Skip to main content

Full text of "The history of Scotland from Agricola's invasion to the revolution of 1688"

See other formats


■i^rs 


V.  7 


,yfc--— ^- 


^Mi 

|0lduiin 

Smith ' 

ibrarfi. 

Presented  to 

Tht. 

Cornell 

Li  n  i  versHy, 

1870, 

GoLIiW 

N    Smith,     M .    A 

.    Oxon., 

Reg 

us    Profeffbr    of    Hiftory 
Univerfity   of  Oxford. 

in    the 

CORNELL  UNIVERSITY   LIBRARY 


3  1924  103  071  399 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 


Cornell  University 
Library 


The  original  of  tiiis  book  is  in 
tine  Cornell  University  Library. 

There  are  no  known  copyright  restrictions  in 
the  United  States  on  the  use  of  the  text. 


http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924103071399 


THE 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 


FROM    A(;RIC0LA'S    INVASION    TO    THE 
REVOLUTION    OF    1688 


JOHN     HILL     BURTON 


VOL.   VII. 


WILLIAM     BLACKWOOD     AND     SONS 

EDINBURGH     AND     LONDON 

MDCCCLXX 


(T 


//CORNELL^ 

UNIVERSITY 
JBRARY., 


0^3 


CONTENTS    OF    SEVENTH    VOLUME. 


CHAPTER    LXXr. 


PACK 

THE   TWO    PARTIES     IN    THE    NORTH THE    POWER    OP    IIUNTLY 

FORCES     AVAILABLE    IN    THE     SODTII    OP    SCOTLAND — GENERAL 

ALEXANDER     LESLIE THE     SCOTS     TRAINED     IN     THE     THIRTY 

years'  WAR COLLECTION  OF  MONEY    AND    RECRUITING THE 

GREAT     GENERAL    ASSEMBLY'    AT    GLASGOW ITS     IMPORTANCE 

AND    PICTURESQUENESS THE    RECOVERY    OF    THE    RECORDS 

THE  ABOLITION  OF  TUB  EPISCOPAL  HIERARCHY RECONSTRUC- 
TION OF  THE  CHURCH— END  OF  A  GREAT  ECCLESIASTICAL  CON- 
TROVERSY  A  COVENANTING  ARMY'  SENT  NORTHWARD AP- 
PEARANCE   IN    ABERDEEN MONTROSE  AND   HUNTLY' CAPTURE 

AND    REMOVAL    OF    IIUNTLY LORD  LEWIS    GORDON TROT    OF 

TURRIFF FIRST    BLOOD    DRAWN    IN    THE    GREAT    WAR,   .  1-48 


CHAPTER    LXXH. 
©Jatlcs  I. 

HAMILTON  AND    LAUD THE    KINg's    PREPARATIONS — MOVEMENTS 

IN  SCOTLAND THE   SEIZURE  OF  EDINBURGH  CASTLE  AND  OTHER 

FORTRESSES ROYALIST     FLEET    IN    THE    FORTH ALEXANDER 

LESLIE   GATHERS   A   COVENANTING  ARMY COMPOSITION  OF  THE 

ARMY THE      LOWLAND      AGRICULTURISTS AROYLe's     HIGH- 
LANDERS  THE  CAMP  ON  DUNSE   LAW THE    KINg's    ARMY    ON 

THE     OTHER     SIDE HINTS     FOR     A     SUPPLICATION THE     PLAN 

TRIED THE    KINg's  RECEPTION   OF  IT PACIFICATION  OF  BER- 
WICK  SUSPICIONS  —  A     SUPPLEMENTAL    GENERAL   ASSEMBLY 


VI  CONTENTS. 

HKMOUTIciN     (II-     i:i'I^COPAC'Y    REPEATED — THE     KIN(!'s    J.AUGE 

liErr,AliATI(>\ A    PAEUAMEXT THE    CONSTITUTIl  )N    OF    THE 

1-STATES — llEAlJiNdS  WITH  THE  FRENCH  f'OURT THE  QUARREL 

PvENKWINC STATE     OF    FEELIX(;    IN     ENGLAND AN    ENGLISH 

ARMY     MAUCUING     TO     THE     NORTH LESLIe's     ARMY     RECOX- 

STRDCTED MONTROSE  AND    THE    PASSAGE    OF    THE    TWEED 

CROSSING     THE     TYNE     AT     NEWBORN,      AND     DEFEAT     OF     THE 

king's    AR^n- OGOUPATION     OF     NEWCASTLE TREATY     OF 

IMPON,         .  .  .  .  •  4!->-124 


CHAPTER    LXXIir. 
®f)arlcs  1. 

ADJOURNMENT  OF  THE    TREATY  TO  LONDON SCOTS    COMMISSION- 
ERS  THERE THEIR    POPULARITY THE    LONG    PARLIAMENT 

FALL  OF  STRAFFORD  AND  LAUD CONTESTS    IN    THE    NORTH 

MONRO    IN     ABERDEEN ARGYLe's     BANDS     IN     THE     WEST 

RAVAGE  THE  NORTHERN   LOWLANDS THE  GREAT  PARLIAMENT 

OF   1641 THE    king's    PRESENCE CONSTITUTIONAL  CHANGES 

COMMITTEE    OF     ESTATES MONTROSE    AND     AEGYLE THE 

INCIDENT  AND    THE    RECRIMINATIONS MONTROSE's  CHANGE 

NEWS    OF     THE     IRISH     OUTBREAK THE     SUSPICIONS     AGAINST 

THE  KING THE  USE  OF  THE  GREAT  SEAL  OP  SCOTLAND THE 

SCOTS     ARMY     IN     IRELAND     UNDER    LESLIE    AND    MONRO THE 

MASSACRE THE    RUMOURS  AND  TERRORS    IN    SCOTLAND THE 

SOLEMN     LEAGUE     AND     COVENANT  MONTROSe's      SCHEME  

GATHERS  A  HIGHLAND    ARMY ARGYLE    AT    INVERLOCHY 

BATTLES  OF  TIBBERMUIR  AND  KILSYTH HIS  FORCE  SCATTERED 

I!Y  LESLIE  AT  PHILIPHAUGH,  .  .  .  125-198 


CHAPTER    LXXIV. 
ffijjarkg  B. 

WESTMINSTER    ASSEMBLY"-    OF    DIVINES CONSTITUTION RESPON- 
SIBILITY    TO     PARLIAMENT ELEMENTS     OF     OPPOSITION     AND 

DISPUTE POLICY    OF    INSTITUTING    THE    ASSEMBLY' OCCUPA- 
TION FOR  THE  CLERGY BAILLIE's  PICTURE  OF  THE  OPENING 

FUNCTION   OF  THE  SCOTS  COMMISSIONERS THEIR  INFLUENCE 

THE  PASSING  OF  THE  COVENANT THE    BROWNISTS    AND    INDE- 
PENDENTS  PARLIAMENT  AND  THE    DIVINE  RIGHT    OF    PRESBY- 


CONTENTS.  Vll 

TEKY RIGHT  OF   DISCIPLINE THE  DIKECTORY  OF  WORSHIP 

THE  VERSION    OF  THE    PSALMS ADOPTION  IN  SCOTLAND THE 

CONFESSION    OF     FAITH THE     CATECHISMS CONTEMPORARY 

AFFAIRS  IN  SCOTLAND EXECUTION    OP    IIADDO    AND    SPOTTIS- 

WOOD THE  SCOTS  ARMY  IN  ENGLAND THE  KING  JOINS  IT 

CONTROVERSY  WITH  HENDERSON THE  KING  GIVEN   UP  TO  THE 

PARLIAMENTARY     PARTY THE     TREATY     OP     NEWPORT THE 

ENGAGEMENT HAMILTON'S   MARCH  TO    PRESTON HIS    DEFEAT 

THE     MAUCHLINE     TESTIMONY THE     WIIIGAMORES CEOM- 

WELl's     ARRANGEMENT    WITH     ARGYLE    AND    THE    ESTATES 

THE    ACT    OF    CLASSES EXECUTION    OF    THE    KING,    AND    PRO- 
CLAMATION OF  CHARLES  II.,  .  .  .  199-251 


CHAPTER     LXXV. 
®5c  ©ommontDealti). 

EXECUTION   OF  HAMILTON  AND  HUNTLY MONTROSe's   PROJECT  IN 

THE  HIGHLANDS ITS  FAILURE HIS  CAPTURE  AND  EXECUTION 

THE     COMMISSIONERS     WITH     CHARLES     IL     IN     HOLLAND 

NEGOTIATIONS     FOR     THE     COVENANT     IN     SCOTLAND  - —  CROM- 

WELl's    INVASION KING    CHARLES  AND  THE    COVENANTERS 

THE    COMPULSORY    TESTS BECOMES    A    COVENANTED    KING 

CROMWELL  AND  LESLIE THE  BATTLE  OF  DUNBAR ITS  CON- 
CLUSIVE    INFLUENCE  CROMWELL     AND     THE     COVENANTING 

PARTY THE     START THE     CORONATION THE     JIARCH    INTO 

ENGLAND THE     BATTLE    OF     WORCESTER TAKING    OF     THE 

SCOTS  FORTRESSES FATE  OF  DUNDEE MONK ORGANISA- 
TION OF  GOVERNMENT  IN  SCOTLAND COURTS  OF  LAW CLOS- 
ING   OF    THE    GENERAL    ASSEMBLY INCORPORATING     UNION ■ 

NAVIGATION     LAWS     AND     FREE-TRADE ABOLITION     OF     THE 

FEUDAL  SYSTEM REPORT   ON  THE   SHIPPING  AND  REVENUE  OF 

SCOTLAND GLENCAIRn's    EXPEDITION CONCLUSION    OF    THE 

PROTECTORATE,       .....  252-334 


CHAPTER   LXXVI. 
Social  progress  from  tljc  Mtformation  to  ti)c  Mcstoration. 

LITERATURE DECAY     OF     LATIN    LITERATURE PASSES     FROM    A 

LIVING  TO  A  DEAD  LANGUAGE RISE   OF  VERNACULAR  LITERA- 

TURE^POETRY HUME DEUMMOND SIR  ROBERT  AYTOUN 


via  CONTENTS. 

IIALLAU    LITKKATUKE SONGS — NATIONAL    MUSIC SCIENt  li 

NAPIER    OF    MEKCIIISTON GKEOOKY AKT JAMESONE    THE 

I'AINTER FATE    OF    ECCLESIASTICAL    AKCUITECTURE UAEO- 

NIAL     AND     STKEET     ARCHITECTURE PROGRESS     OF    WEALTH 

CONDITION     OF     THE    TOWNS  NOTICES     OF     SCOTLAND     BY 

VISITORS THE    MORALITY    OF    THE    PEOPLE THE    SUPERSTI- 

IIONS   AS  THE   DARK   SIDE  OF  THE   SOCIAL  SYSTEM MALIGNANT 

INFLUENCE    OF    BELIEF    IN    WITCHCRAFT DIABOLICAL  POSSES- 
SIONS,        ......  335-3^5 


CHAPTER     LXXVII. 
Mestoratfon  <5«ttkmcnt. 

ARRIVAL  OF  THE   KING  IN   LONDON THE  REJOICINGS  IN  SCOTLAND 

RESUMPTION  OF  COMMITTEE  OF  ESTATES THE  ENGLISH  NA- 
VIGATION ACT,    AND  END   OF  FREE-TRADE THE  TESTIMONY  OF 

THE  REMONSTRANT  PARTY THEIR  CONDITION  AND    INFLUENCE 

PROSPECTS  OF  RELIGION AMBASSADORS  AT  COURT  FOR  THE 

MODERATE  PARTY  OF  THE  CHURCH HISTORY  OF  THE  NEGO- 
TIATIONS OF  JAMES  SHARP SENT  TO  PLEAD  FOR  THE  PRES- 
BYTERIAN     CAUSE,      AND      RETURNS      AS     ARCHBISHOP     OF     ST 

ANDREWS THE    REGALIA    PRESERVED LOSS    OF    RECORDS 

THE     FORTRESSES MEETING     OF      ESTATES MIDDLETON      AS 

COM.MISSIONER THE  EQUIVOCAL  PROMISES  ABOUT  THE  CHURCH 

THE  ACT  RESCISSORY ESTABLISHMENT  OF  EPISCOPAL  IIIER- 

AKCIIV VICTIMS ARGY'LE — GUTHRIE WARRISTON,  386-431 


CHAPTER    LXXVni. 
®l)arlcs  H. 

THE  INDEMNITY THE  EXCEPTIONS THE    DRUNKEN    PARLIAMENT 

THE    GREAT  EJECTION  OF  THE    PRESBYTERIAN    MINISTERS 

COURT  OF  HIGH  COMMISSION MILE  ACT THE  REVOLUTION  AT 

COURT — Lauderdale's  position — contest  with  middleton 

VICTORY constitutional    REVELATIONS    OF    THE  CONTEST 

ROTHES   AS    COMMISSIONER GOVERNMENT    OP    LAUDERDALE 

ITS   3IYSTERI0US    POLICY THE    PERSECUTION QUARTERING 

OF    SOLDIERS IRRITATION GATHERING  OF  AN  INSURRECTION 

MARCH  FROM  THE  WESTERN  MOORS  TO  THE  PENTLAND  HILLS 

DEFEATED  AT  RULLION   GREEN GENERAL  DALZIEL TREAT- 


CONTENTS.  IX 

MENT     OF    THE    CAPTIVES LAUDERDALE    COMMISSIONER HIS 

COURT THE  FIRST  INDULGENCE TREATMENT    OF    RECUSANTS 

LAWBUREOWS INTERCOMMUNING THE   COURTS   OP    LAW 

SECESSION    OF    THE    BAR ARCHBISHOP    SHARP HIS    ISOLATED 

POSITION ATTEMPT     ON    HIS     LIFE HIS     DISCOVERY    OF     ITS 

AUTHOR PROJECT     AGAINST    THE     SHERIFF     OP    FIFE THE 

ARCHBISHOP  COMES  IN  HIS  STEAD THE  MURDER THE  ESCAPE 

OP  THE  MURDERERS,  ....  432-508 


CHAPTER   LXXIX. 
?^ouge  of  ^tcfoart  to  tl)c  Metiolution. 

CONVENTICLES ARMING  OP  THE  WESTERN  PEASANTRY BATTLE 

OF  DEUMCLOG JOHN  GRAHAM  OF  CLAVERHOUSE THE  IN- 
SURRECTION  DUKE    OF     MONMOUTH    SENT THE     DISPUTES 

ROBERT  HAMILTON BATTLE  OF  BOTHWELL  BRIDGE THE  RE- 
TRIBUTION  THE     SANQUHAR     DECLARATION HACKSTON     OP 

EATHILLET AIRDS     MOSS THE    CAMERONIANS THE    POPISH 

PLOT  —  RYEHOUSE    AND    ASSASSINATION    PLOTS SUCCESSION 

AND  TEST  ACTS THE  EXCOMMUNICATION    OP    THE  KING THE 

RELIGIOUS    PARTIES THE    DUKE    OF    YORK THE    COMMISSION 

OF  JUSTICIARY  AND  THE  MILITARY  EXECUTIONS CLAVER- 
HOUSE AND  JOHN  BROWN THE  WIGTOWN  MARTYRS SUCCES- 
SION OF  JAMES  VII. — Monmouth's  rebellion — argyle's  in- 
surrection  IIIS    EXECUTION SIR    PATRICK    HUME BAILLIE 

OF    JERVISWOOD THE    INDULGENCES THE    PERSECUTION     OP 

RECUSANTS   CONTINUED THE  PROSPECT  OP    A    POPISH  RULE 

THE   EEVOLUTION,  ....  509-576 

INDEX,  ......  577-651 


THE 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 


CHAPTER     LXXI. 

THE    TWO    PARTIES    IN    THE    NORTH THE    POWER    OF    HUNTLY 

FORCES     AVAILABLE     IN     THE     SOUTH    OF     SCOTLAND — GENERAL 

ALEXANDER  LESLIE THE  SCOTS  TRAINED  IN  THE  THIRTY  YEARS' 

WAR COLLECTION     OF    MONEY   AND    RECRUITING — THE     GREAT 

GENERAL    ASSEMBLY    AT    GLASGOW ITS    IMPORTANCE    AND    PIC- 

TURESQUENESS THE  RECOVERY  OF    THE   RECORDS — THE  ABOLI- 
TION OF  THE  EPISCOPAL  HIERARCHY RECONSTRUCTION  OF  THE 

CHURCH — END    OF    A    GREAT    ECCLESIASTICAL  CONTROVERSY — A 

COVENANTING  ARMY  SENT  NORTHWARD APPEARANCE  IN  ABER- 

DEEN^MONTROSE    AND    HUNTLY CAPTURE    AND    REMOVAL    OF 

HUNTLY LORD     LEWIS      GORDON  —  TROT      OF    TURRIFF  —  FIRST 

BLOOD    DRAWN    IN    THE    GREAT    WAR. 

When  Huntly,  the  natural  leader  of  the  king's  party 
in  the  north,  died  in  1636,  his  son  George,  the  heir  of 
the  house,  was  in  France,  commanding  a  company  of 
gens  cHarmes.  He  had  not  long  returned  home  when 
it  became  clear  that  the  Royalist  and  Cavalier  party 
must  look  to  him  as  the  centre  of  their  strength  ;  and 
soon  after  the  period  which  we  have  reached  he  was 
appointed  the  king's  Lieutenant  in  the  north.     At  an 

VOL.  VII.  A 


2  CHARLES    I. 

early  stage  of  the  dispute  we  find  the  instinct  of  the 
Covenanters  pointing  to  him  as  their  natural  enemy, 
but  taking  a  moderate  estimate  of  his  power  to  hurt 
them.  Strong  he  was,  no  doubt,  in  his  own  place  ; 
but  he  was  isolated  by  barriers  not  to  be  broken  by 
any  strength  at  his  command.  Eoxburgh  had  alluded 
to  danger  in  that  quarter  in  a  conversation  with 
Eothes ;  "  whereto  Eothes  replied  he  would  not  give  a 
salt  citron  for  liim  ;  for  two  Fife  lairds  could  keep 
him  from  crossing  Dundee  Ferry,  and  half-a-dozen 
Angus  lairds  could  keep  him  from  crossing  the  Cairn 
o'  Month  ;  that  three  parts  of  his  name  is  decayed, 
and  he  wants  the  two  sheriffships."  ^  This  is  an  allu- 
sion to  the  discountenance  of  the  house  of  Huntly  by 
the  Court  of  King  Charles,  and  especially  to  the  re- 
moval out  of  its  hands  of  the  sheriffship  of  Aberdeen 
and  the  sherifiship  of  Inverness. 

But,  if  we  may  credit  one  who  had  good  means  of 
knowing  what  he  said,  though  the  Covenanting  chief 
thus  slighted  Huntly 's  power,  the  party  had  made 
zealous  efforts  to  secure  him  as  an  ally.  Had  they 
clone  so,  all  Scotland  would  have  been  theirs  before 
the  war  had  begun ;  for  the  community  of  Aberdeen, 
even  if  a  few  zealous  lairds  in  the  neighbourhood  had 
joined  them,  could  not  have  made  even  a  show  of 
resistance.  The  young  Huntly  had  been  brought  up 
a  Protestant,  so  that  no  impassable  gulf  lay  between 
him  and  the  Presbyterians,  as  in  his  father's  day. 
Colonel  Pv,obert  Monro,  one  of  the  Scotsmen  from  the 
German  Avars  who  had  taken  service  with  the  Cove- 
nanters, was  sent  as  their  ambassador  to  Strathbogie. 
The  offers  intrusted  to  him  were  great :      "  The  sum 

1  Relation,  62,  6.3. 


STATE    OF    FORCES,    1638.  3 

of  his  commission  to  Huntly  was,  that  the  noblemen 
Covenanters  were  desirous  that  he  shouki  join  with  them 
in  the  common  cause ;  tliat  if  he  would  do  so,  and 
take  the  Covenant,  they  would  give  him  the  first  place, 
and  make  him  leader  of  their  forces ;  and  further, 
they  would  make  his  state  and  his  fortunes  greater 
than  ever  they  were  ;  and,  moreover,  they  should  pay 
off  and  discharge  all  his  debts,  which  they  knew  to  be 
about  ane  hundred  thousand  pounds  sterling ;  that 
their  forces  and  associates  were  a  hundred,  to  one  with 
the  king ;  and  therefore  it  was  to  no  purpose  to  him 
to  take  up  arms  against  them,  for  if  he  refused  his 
offer  and  declared  against  them,  they  should  find 
means  to  disable  him  for  to  helf)  the  king ;  and, 
moreover,  they  knew  how  to  undo  him ;  and  bade 
him  expect  that  they  will  ruinate  his  family  and 
estates." 

The  reception  given  by  the  new  marquess  to  this 
alternative  is  told  in  thorough  keeping  with  the 
chivalrous  character  of  his  father  :  "  To  this  proposi- 
tion Huntly  gave  a  short  and  resolute  re.partee,  that 
his  family  had  risen  and  stood  by  the  kings  of  Scot- 
land ;  and  for  his  part,  if  the  event  proved  the  ruin 
of  this  king,  he  was  resolved  to  lay  his  life,  honours, 
and  estate  under  the  rubbish  of  the  king  his  ruins. 
But  withal  thanked  the  gentleman  who  had  brought 
the  commission  and  had  advised  him  thereto,  as  pro- 
ceeding from  one  whom  he  took  for  a  friend  and  good- 
wilier,  and  urged  out  of  a  good  intention  to  him."  ^ 

To  note  the  source  whence  the  chief  secular 
strength  on  the  other  side  was  to  be  drawn  we  must 
pass  to  a  distant  scene.      England  and  Scotland  had 

1  Gordon's  Scots  Affairs,  i.  49,  50. 


2  CHARLES    I. 

early  stage  of  the  dispute  we  find  the  instinct  of  the 
Covenanters  pointing  to  him  as  their  natural  enemy, 
but  taking  a  moderate  estimate  of  his  power  to  hurt 
them.  Strong  he  was,  no  doubt,  in  his  own  place  ; 
but  he  was  isolated  by  barriers  not  to  be  broken  by 
any  strength  at  his  command.  Roxburgh  had  alluded 
to  danger  in  that  quarter  in  a  conversation  with 
Eothes ;  "  whereto  Eothes  replied  he  would  not  give  a 
salt  citron  for  liim  ;  for  two  Fife  lairds  could  keep 
him  from  crossing  Dundee  Ferry,  and  half-a-dozen 
Angus  lairds  could  keep  him  from  crossing  the  Cairn 
o'  Month  ;  that  three  parts  of  his  name  is  decayed, 
and  he  wants  the  two  sheriffships."  ^  This  is  an  allu- 
sion to  the  discountenance  of  the  house  of  Huntly  by 
the  Court  of  King  Charles,  and  especially  to  the  re- 
moval out  of  its  hands  of  the  sheriftship  of  Aberdeen 
and  the  sheriftship  of  Inverness. 

But,  if  we  may  credit  one  who  had  good  means  of 
knowing  what  he  said,  though  the  Covenanting  chief 
thus  slighted  Huntly 's  power,  the  party  had  made 
zealous  efforts  to  secure  him  as  an  ally.  Had  they 
done  so,  all  Scotland  would  have  been  theirs  before 
the  war  had  begun ;  for  the  commu.nity  of  Aberdeen, 
even  if  a  few  zealous  lairds  in  the  neighbourhood  had 
joined  them,  could  not  have  made  even  a  show  of 
resistance.  The  young  Huntly  had  been  brought  up 
a  Protestant,  so  that  no  impassable  gulf  lay  between 
him  and  the  Presbyterians,  as  in  his  father's  day. 
Colonel  Robert  Monro,  one  of  the  Scotsmen  from  the 
German  wars  who  had  taken  service  with  the  Cove- 
nanters, was  sent  as  their  ambassador  to  Strathbogie. 
The  offers  intrusted  to  him  were  great :      "  The  sum 

1  Relation,  62,  63. 


STATE    OF    FORCES,    1638.  3 

of  his  commission  to  Huntly  was,  that  the  noblemen 
Covenanters  were  desirous  that  he  should  join  with  them 
in  the  common  cause ;  that  if  he  would  do  so,  and 
take  the  Covenant,  they  would  give  him  the  first  place, 
and  make  him  leader  of  their  forces ;  and  further, 
they  would  make  his  state  and  his  fortunes  greater 
than  ever  they  were  ;  and,  moreover,  they  should  pay 
off  and  discharge  all  his  debts,  which  they  knew  to  be 
about  ane  hundred  thousand  pounds  sterling  :  that 
their  forces  and  associates  were  a  hundred,  to  one  with 
the  king ;  and  therefore  it  was  to  no  purpose  to  him 
to  take  up  arms  against  them,  for  if  he  refused  his 
offer  and  declared  against  them,  they  should  find 
means  to  disable  him  for  to  help  the  king ;  and, 
moreover,  they  knew  how  to  undo  him ;  and  bade 
him  expect  that  they  will  ruinate  his  family  and 
estates." 

The  reception  given  by  the  new  marquess  to  this 
alternative  is  told  in  thorough  keeping  with  the 
chivalrous  character  of  his  father  :  "  To  this  proposi- 
tion Huntly  gave  a  short  and  resolute  repartee,  that 
his  family  had  risen  and  stood  by  the  kings  of  Scot- 
land ;  and  for  his  part,  if  the  event  proved  the  ruin 
of  this  king,  he  was  resolved  to  lay  his  life,  honours, 
and  estate  under  the  rubbish  of  the  king  his  ruins. 
But  withal  thanked  the  gentleman  who  had  brought 
the  commission  and  had  advised  him  thereto,  as  pro- 
ceeding from  one  whom  he  took  for  a  friend  and  good- 
wilier,  and  urged  out  of  a  good  intention  to  him."  ^ 

To  note  the  source  whence  the  chief  secular 
strength  on  the  other  side  was  to  be  drawn  we  must 
pass  to  a  distant  scene.      England  and  Scotland  had 

1  Gordon's  Scots  Affairs,  i.  49,  50. 


4  CHARLES    I. 

been  for  many  years  at  peace  both  ^vith  each  other 
and  with  the  rest  of  the  world.  Tlirongh  the  affair  of 
the  PaLatinate,  Britain  seemed  to  be  drifting  into  the 
mighty  contests  of  the  Continent.  Here,  and  in  the 
affair  of  La  Rochelle,  the  peaceful  or  timid  policy  of 
King  James  kept  his  dominions  out  of  war,  and  brought 
on  him  the  reproach  of  acting  the  unnatural  father  and 
the  indifferent  Protestant.  The  Continent  was  shaken 
by  the  longest  and  bloodiest  war  of  modern  ages.  This 
island  seemed  to  stand  serenely  aloof  from  all  its 
horrors ;  l^ut  it  was  yet  to  be  seen  that  the  Thirty 
Years'  War  and  its  effects  would  not  pass  away  without 
leaving  a  mark  on  the  destinies  of  Britain.  In  fact 
the  winding  up  of  that  war  threw  loose  the  materials 
that  were  to  revive  into  the  civil  wars  of  Britain. 
A  political  axiom  of  Chesterfield's  that  seems  always 
the  more  accurate  the  more  one  reflects  on  it  was, 
that  "  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  is  the  foundation  of  all 
subsequent  treaties."  Even  the  later  readjustment  of 
the  map  of  Eurojje  at  the  treaty  of  Vienna  scarcely 
modifies  this  character.  The  great  treaty  itself  was  not 
yet  concluded,  but  the  armies  were  breaking  up,  and  the 
war  was  drawing  towards  the  end.  The  time  was  yet 
distant  when  Scotland  was  to  reap,  in  improved  in- 
dustry and  enlarged  riches,  the  fruit  of  a  good  under- 
standing with  England.  The  country  was  still  depen- 
dent on  foreign  enterprise  for  the  employment  of  its 
more  restless  spirits.  They  were  to  be  found  scattered 
through  the  armies  on  both  sides  of  the  great  war,  but 
chiefly  on  the  Protestant  side.  Gustavus  Adolphus, 
who  knew  Avell  what  went  to  make  a  good  soldier, 
courted  them  to  his  standard.  It  is  impossible  to 
approach  by  an  estimate  the  number  of  Scots  who  thus 


STATE    OF    FORCES,    1638.  5 

swarmed  out  of  tlie  country  in  the  various  leaguers. 
Gustavus  is  said  to  have  had  ten  thousand  at  his  dis- 
posal. That  altogether  the  Scots  troopers  were  a 
large  element  in  the  war  we  may  gather  from  the 
strength  of  specific  reinforcements.  Thus  in  1 626  went 
forth  the  small  army  called  Mackay's  Regiment,  said 
at  the  time  to  be  four  thousand  strong,  whose  deeds 
have  been  recorded  by  their  leader,  Colonel  Robert 
Monro.  Raising  these  troops  was  private  venture  ; 
but  King  Charles  gave  his  benediction  and  a  contri- 
bution of  £2000  to  the  cause,  doing  so  much  to 
strengthen  the  hand  that  was  to  be  his  enemy's.  In 
1631  there  was  another  reinforcement  of  six  thousand 
men  to  the  Protestant  host.  When  the  items  of  rein- 
forcing parties  were  on  a  scale  like  this,  it  is  easy  to 
see  how  strong  a  body  of  Scots  trained  soldiers  the 
Thirty  Years'  War  left  available.^ 

As  the  great  armies  on  both  sides  gradually  broke 
up,  Europe  became  sorely  infested  with  ruffians.  Not 
within  the  memory  of  man  had  soldiers  been  so  long 
and  ceaselessly  inured  to  the  great  game  of  war,  and 
had  so  few  opportunities  for  seeing  and  acquiring  the 
pursuits  of  industrial  life.  While  the  roads  through- 
out Germany  swarmed  with  robbers,  the  Scots  found 
that  a  congenial  theatre  of  exertion  was  opening  for 
them  at  home.  They  brought  with  them  a  wonderful 
experience.  Never  before  had  such  rapid  progress 
been  made  in  the  converse  arts  of  destruction  and 
defence.  All  operations  as  to  fortified  places,  even  in 
England  —  and  of  course  more  thoroughly  in  Scot- 
land— were  mere  play  beside  the  operations  in  which 

^  For  more  information  on  this  subject  the  author  refers  to  his  Scot 
Abroad,  ii.  134  et  seq.    See,  too,  Chambers's  Domestic  Annals,  ii.  10,  55. 


6  CHARLES    I. 

these  men  had  taken  part.      Round  some  small  town 
in  the  Low  Countries  there  might  be  as  much  appa- 
ratus of  fortification  as  all  the  fortified  places  in  Scot- 
land could  furnish.     Almost  all  the  elements  of  war 
— defences,   artillerj^,  small-arms,   drilling,  and  disci- 
pline— had  been  readjusted  with  a  vast  increase  of  effi- 
ciency.    The  possession  of  a  few  thousands  of  her  sons 
thus  trained  gave  Scotland  the  advantage  over  Eng- 
land which  a  country  with  a  standing  army  has  over 
the  country  which   can  only  bring  raw  recruits  into 
action.       From  the    fugitive  nature  of   the  Scottish 
feudal  array,  the  opportunities  which  other  nations,  in- 
cluding England,  had  of  keeping  troops  embodied  for 
a  longer  period,  had  been  telling  against  Scotland  in 
the  fortunes  of  war.     Now  a  concurrence  of  afi"airs,  in  ■ 
which  Scotland  as  a  nation  seemed  to  have  no  concern, 
had  changed  the  balance.     At  the  same  time,  while 
England  had  been  brought  under  the  reign  of  law  and 
order,  Scotland  had  elements  of  dispeace  which  com- 
pelled the  citizen  to  be  a  soldier.     The  English  coun- 
try gentleman  lived,  as  we  have  seen,  in  a  mansion  ; 
but  the  Scots  laird  still  required  the  protection  of  a 
fortress.      The  Scots  Borderers  had  not  been  as  yet 
completely  quieted,  and  the  Highlanders  had  become 
more  formidable  than  ever  as  reivers.     Such  were  the 
conditions  which  rendered  Scotland  strong,  and  regard- 
less  of  the  threats  which  found  their  way  northwards. 
In  the  midst  of  the  supplications,  protestations,  and 
other  wordy  warfare  following  on  the  first  outbreak, 
it  is   a   significant  incident  that   General   Alexander 
Leslie  comes  over  from  Sweden   "in  a   small  bark," 
having  thus  evaded  a  shij)  of  war,  which  might  have 
intercepted  him  had  he  come  in  a  more  conspicuous 


STATE    OF    FORCES,    1638.  7 

shape.  This  Leslie — not  to  be  confounded  with  his 
nepheAv  David — was  not  a  man  of  high  military 
genius.  He  had  worked,  however,  in  half  the  mighty 
battles  and  sieges  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  and  was  so 
accomplished  in  all  the  military  mechanism  brought  to 
perfection  in  that  long  contest,  that  no  one  who  had 
spent  his  clays  at  home  in  England  or  Scotland  could 
have  a  chance  against  him  in  the  field,  or  compete 
with  him  for  the  command  of  an  army.  It  was  said 
that,  unconscious  of  the  destiny  awaiting  him,  he  had 
come  to  spend  his  old  age  in  peaceful  retirement,  and 
that  he  had  to  this  end.  purchased  an  estate  in  Fife- 
shire,  in  the  midst  of  his  kindred,  or  those  whom  he 
chose  to  claim  as  such.^  But  a  casual  word  dropped 
by  the  well-informed  Baillie  shows  that  when  he 
arrived,  during  the  sitting  of  the  Assembly,  he  had 
been  preparing  for  other  things  ;  for  he  had  "  caused 
a  great  number  of  our  commanders  in  Germany  sub- 
scribe our  Covenant,  and  provided  much  good  muni- 
tion." 2 

So  early  as  the  month  of  June,  one  of  the  grievances 
of  which  the  Tables  complained  was  an  interruption 
of  the  commerce  of  Scotland  by  vessels  of  war  sailing 
under  the  English  flag,  and  by  the  interference  of  the 

■^  Spalding,  who  did  not  highly  esteem  him,  says  :  "  There  came  out  of 
Germany  from  the  wars  liome  to  Scotland  ane  gentleman  of  base  birth, 
born  in  Balveny,  who  had  served  long  and  fortunately  in  the  German 
wars,  and  called  by  the  name  of  Felt-Marschal  Leslie — his  excellence. 
His  name,  indeed,  was  Alexander  Leslie,  but  by  his  valour  and  good  luck 
attained  to  this  title  '  his  excellence,'  inferior  to  none  but  to  the  King  of 
Sweden,  under  whom  he  served  among  all  his  cavalry.  Well,  this  Felt- 
Marschal  Leslie,  having  conquest  [acquired]  from  nought  honour  and 
wealth  in  great  abundance,  resolved  to  come  home  to  his  native  country 
of  Scotland,  and  settle  him  beside  his  chief  the  Earl  of  Rothes." — 
Memorials  of  the  Troubles,  i.  130. 

2  Letters,  i.  111. 


8  CHARLES    I. 

Estates  of  Holland,  which,  at  the  request  of  the  king's 
English  ambassador  there,  had  set  an  embargo  on 
certain  merchandise  bought  by  Scots  traders  in  Am- 
sterdam. The  excuse  made  for  this  interference  was, 
that  the  goods  in  question  were  arms  and  other  muni- 
tions of  war.  This  could  not  be  denied.  One  of 
the  agents  in  whose  hands  the  goods  were  intercepted 
makes  explanations  about  having  "prepared  some 
five  hundred  muskets  and  as  many  pikes,  and  paid 
custom  for  them  ;  that  he  had  put  them  in  a  ship, 
with  some  two  hundred  muskets  besides,  that  he  had 
not  paid  custom  for."^  Still  the  Tables  maintained 
that  they  were  free  to  buy  what  goods  they  pleased, 
and  it  was  a  wrong  done  to  interrupt  their  commerce. 
This  was  at  the  time  when  they  had  themselves 
placed  guards  to  intercept  any  munitions  that  might 
be  conveyed  to  Edinburgh  Castle.  There  was  much 
scornful  ridicule  cast  at  the  grievances  of  these  mer- 
chants whose  commerce  was  interrupted  in  the  matter 
of  preparing  to  make  war  upon  their  king ;  and  the 
whole  is  characteristic  of  that  curious  position  ever 
taken  by  the  Covenanters — that  they  were  loyal  sub- 
jects, all  along  performing  their  duty  to  their  king 
and  country. 

Ere  this  time  the  Covenanters  were  in  possession 
pf  a  revenue.  A  project  for  a  "  contribution  "  appears 
among  their  papers  so  early  as  the  month  of  February 
1638.^  In  the  beginning  of  March  a  sum  amounting  to 
670  dollars  is  subscribed  by  thirty-seven  of  the  leaders. 
The  name  of  INIontrose  appears  at  the  head  of  the  list, 
put  down  for  25  dollars,  the  highest  rate  of  contribu- 
tion— the  scale  beini'-  from  10  to  2.5  dollars.      At  the 

O 

^  Rothes's  Relation,  170.  ^  Ibid.,  72. 


GLASGOW   ASSEMBLY,    1638.  9 

same  time  an  arrangement  was  completed  for  levying 
a  tax  over  all  Scotland  :  "  It  was  resolved  anent  the 
contribution  that  eight  shall  be  appointed  collectors 
in  every  shire,  according  to  one  dollar  the  thousand 
marks  of  free-rent,  as  they  can  try,  taking  the  party's 
declaration  whether  it  be  more  or  less.  The  contribu- 
tion is  voluntary,  and  every  one  must  be  valued  as 
they  are  pleased  voluntarily  to  declare  the  worth  of 
their  free-rent.  The  half  of  the  contribution  raised  in 
ilk  shire  must  be  delivered  to  John  Smith,  and  after 
the  same  is  spent  to  send  for  the  other  half."^  Of 
this  contribution,  which  was  to  be  merely  voluntary, 
and  to  be  given  according  to  the  giver's  estimate  of 
his  means,  it  may  be  said  that  it  was  a  tax  exacted  to 
the  last  penny  with  a  rigid  uniformity  unknown  before 
either  in  England  or  Scotland,  unless,  indeed,  it  might 
be  said  that  in  the  exaction  of  ship-money  the  English 
Council  had  achieved  a  like  exactness.  The  committee 
appointed  to  collect  this  tax  in  each  county  after- 
wards obtained  the  appropriate  title  of  "the  War 
Committee."^ 

So  stood  Scotland  when,  on  the  21st  of  November 
1638,  the  General  Assembly  opened  in  the  cathedral 
church  of  Glasgow.  A  second  time  that  community, 
which  abjured  all  pomp  and  all  attempt  to  draw 
influence  from  external  conditions,  was  fortunate  in  a 
fitting  stage  for  the  enactment  of  a  grand  drama.  Had 
it  been  a  great  council  of  the  old  Church  that  was  to 
assemble,  it  could  not  have  found  any  other  building 
in  Scotland  so  well  suited  for  the  solemn  occasion  by 

^  Eothes's  Kelation,  80,  81. 

2  See  the  "  Minute  book  kept  l)y  the  War  Committee  of  the  Cov- 
enanters in  the  Stewartry  of  Kirkcudbright  in  the  years  1640  and 
1641;"  KirkcudbriL'ht,  1855. 


lO  CHARLES    I. 

supplying  conditions  of  time-lionoured  ecclesiastical 
magnificence.  It  was  the  only  great  church  in  Scot- 
land which  had  suffered  nothing  save  the  removal  or 
destruction  of  the  apparatus  for  the  mass  and  the 
other  decorations  held  to  savour  of  idolatry.  It  was 
a  meeting  eminently  solemn.  Of  the  general  councils 
of  the  old  Church,  hallowed  by  the  presence  of  digni- 
taries whose  rank  made  them  princes  over  all  Christen- 
dom, and  adorned  by  every  superfluity  of  pomp,  few 
were  so  momentous  in  their  influence  as  this  gathering 
together,  in  a  small  corner  of  Christian  Europe,  of  a 
body  of  men  acknowledging  no  grades  of  superiority, 
and  indulging  in  none  of  the  pomps  which  were  the 
usual  companions  and  symbols  of  greatness.^ 

■■  There  is  a  story  told  liy  Spottiswood  how  the  magistrates  of  Glas- 
gow had  agreed  to  sacrifice  the  cathedral  to  Andrew  Melville  and  others 
of  the  clergy  as  "  a  monument  of  idolatry,"  but  that  the  city  mob  rose 
and  protected  the  Ijuilding.  Dr  M'Crie  said  he  could  find  no  contem- 
porary trace  of  such  an  event ;  and  where  he  was  baffied  in  such  a  pur- 
suit nobody  else  need  attempt  it.  He  says  :  "  I  never  met  with  any- 
thing in  the  public  or  private  writings  of  Mehdlle,  or  of  any  minister 
contemporary  with  him,  that  gives  the  smallest  ground  for  the  conclusion 
that  they  looked  upon  catliedral  churches  as  monuments  of  idolatrj',  or 
that  they  would  have  advised  their  demolition  on  this  ground."  — 
"Works,  ii.  39.  The  Cathedi-al  of  St  Mungo  o^ved  its  preservation  to  the 
wealth  and  liberality  of  the  community  of  Glasgow.  The  other  churches 
which  rivalled  or  excelled  it — Elgin,  St  Andrews,  the  Abbey  Church  of 
Arbroath,  and  others — fell  to  pieces  through  poverty.  Tlie  Church  of 
St  Mungo  was  never  completed,  but  its  fabric  was  sustained  in  the  con- 
dition in  which  the  Reformation  found  it.  Neglect  had  begun  to  work 
on  it,  and,  as  in  other  neglected  buildings,  the  materials  available  for 
sordid  purposes  had  begun  to  disappear.  After  fruitless  attempts  to 
obtain  funds  from  the  proper  revenues  of  the  see,  on  the  21st  of  October 
1574,  the  provost  and  council,  with  the  deans  of  the  craft  and  other 
public-spirited  citizens,  held  a  meeting,  the  result  of  which  is  thus 
recorded  :  "  Having  respect  and  consideration  to  the  great  decay  and 
ruin  that  the  High  Kirk  of  Glasgow  has  come  to  through  taking  away 
of  the  lead,  slate,  and  other  graith  thereof  in  the  troublous  time  bygone, 
so  that  such  a  great  monument  will  alluterly  fall  down  and  decay  with- 


GLASGOW   ASSEMBLY,    1638.  11 

The  opening  of  the  Assembly  of  1638  may  fairly 
vie  with  that  of  the  Long  Parliament  as  a  momentous 
historical  event.  It  was  the  earlier  in  time.  Had  it 
not  been,  perhaps  the  Long  Parliament  also  might  not 
have  been.  At  that  juncture,  so  far  as  England  alone 
was  concerned,  the  looker-on  would  have  said  that  the 
Court  would  prevail,  and  that  without  a  struggle. 
The  organisation  for  the  collection  of  ship-money  got 
the  prerogative  out  of  its  only  remaining  difficulty — 
the  supply  of  money  capable  of  supporting  a  standing- 
army.  All  things  had  the  aspect  of  a  monarchy 
serene  and  absolute,  such  as  Englishmen  knew  only 
from  specimens  on  the  other  side  of  the  Channel. 
This  General  Assembly  takes  precedence  in  history  as 
the  first  meeting  of  a  body  existing  by  constitutional 
sanction,  yet  giving  defiance  to  the  Court.  It  assem- 
bled under  royal  authority,  the  king  being  through 
his  Commissioner  an  element  of  its  constitution. 

But  memorable  as  this  Assembly  is  for  its  influence 
over  the  history  of  the  coming  times,  it  stands  not  less 
memorable  as  a  monument  of  the  fallacy  of  human 
calculations.  The  power  it  achieved  not  only  fulfilled 
the  expectations  of  its  promoters,  but  realised,  or  even 
exceeded,  the  wildest  dreams  of  the  most  enthusiastic 
among  them.  They  felt  as  if  the  Almighty  were 
leading   them  on  to    absolute   triumph,   when,  by  a 


out  it  be  remedied,  and  because  the  helping  thereof  is  so  great  and  will 
extend  to  more  nor  they  may  spare,  and  that  they  are  not  addebted  to 
the  upholding  and  repairing  thereof  by  law,  yet  of  their  own  freewill 
uncompelled,  and  for  the  zeal  they  bear  to  the  Kirk,  of  mere  alms  and 
liberality,  all  in  one  voice  consented  to  a  tax  and  imposition  of  two 
hundred  pounds  money  to  be  taxed  and  paid  by  the  township  and  free- 
men thereof,  for  helping  to  repair  the  said  kirk  and  holding  it  water- 
fast." — Burgh  Records  of  the  City  of  Glasgow,  Maitland  Club. 


12  CHARLES    I. 

mysterious  and  scarce  perceptible  agency,  the  great 
power  of  wliicli  they  were  a  portion  was  turned  to 
purposes  utterly  adverse  to  their  designs.  No  doubt 
they  did  not  expect  by  their  own  human  ^^olicy  to 
execute  the  great  things  that  were  to  be  done ;  but 
another  form  of  presumption  was  visited  upon  them, 
when  they  acted  as  those  specially  selected  to  accom- 
plish the  policy  of  the  Euler  of  all  things.  A  mighty 
potentate  of  modern  days  said  to  his  people,  "  We 
are  with  God,  and  God  is  with  us ; "  and  the  words 
of  assurance  had  scarcely  spread  among  them  ere 
shame  and  ruin  overtook  both  speaker  and  audience. 
This  is  but  one  of  the  forms  in  which  presumptuous 
men  give  their  command  to  that  future  which  will  not 
obey  them.  The  history  of  the  coming  struggle  gives 
many  instances  in  which  the  very  confidence  of  suc- 
cess seemed  to  achieve  it.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
shows  many  others  where  the  power  created  by  such 
confidence  turned  against  its  possessor ;  and  this  As- 
sembly was  one  of  them. 

This  great  council  was  not  unadorned  by  rank  and 
pompous  ceremonial,  but  all  of  this  was  secular.  The 
Lord  High  Commissioner,  the  Marquess  of  Hamilton, 
sat  on  a  canopied  throne,  surrounded  by  the  chief 
ofiicers  of  State.  There  were  seventeen  peers  and  a 
large  body  of  powerful  territorial  barons,  who,  as  lay 
elders,  were  members  of  the  Assembly.  To  these  a 
place  of  honour  was  conceded — they  sat  at  a  long 
table  running  down  the  centre  of  the  church,  while 
the  ministers  were  content  to  occupy  seats  running  in 
tiers  up  on  either  side.  Above,  in  one  of  the  aisles 
apparently,  there  was  a  stage  for  young  nobles  and 
men  of  rank  not  members  of  the  Assembly,  "with 


GLASGOW    ASSEMBLY,    1638.  13 

huge  numbers  of  people,  ladies,  and  some  gentlewomen 
in  the  vaults  above."  There  were  one  hundred  and 
forty  ecclesiastical  and  one  hundred  lay  members. 
Among  the  ecclesiastics  there  were  no  bishops  or 
dignitaries,  for  a  reason  presently  to  be  seen  ■ — ■  all 
were  simple  Ministers  of  the  Word. 

The  presence  of  the  powerful  body  of  laymen  on 
this  occasion  naturally  opens  up  the  topic  of  a  long 
and  acrid  controversy  about  the  constitution  of  the 
Assembly.     On  the  Cavalier  and  Episcopal  side,   it 
was  maintained  not  to  be  a  free  and  fair  Assembly. 
There  were  denunciations  of  partiality  in  the  organisa- 
tion for  the  selection  of  its  members,  especially  of  the 
lay  elders.     Such  disputes  will  ever  occur,  but  there 
is  no  use  of  blurring  history  with  them.      We  know 
that  whatever  the  standard  of  the  political  morality 
of  the  time  permits  people  to  do  for  their  party,  that 
they  will  do — nay,  they  must  do  it,  under  the  pain 
of  being  denounced  as  weak  or  perhaps  treacherous. 
The  Court  had  power  to  serve  its  own  ends  in  the 
other  Assemblies  held  in  Perth  and  Aberdeen,  and 
they  freely  used  the  power.     The  Covenanters  were 
now  masters  of  the  situation,  and  they  resolved  to 
hold  a  Covenanting  Assembly.     No  one  was  to  be  a 
member  of  it  who  had  not  taken  the  Covenant,  and 
remained  true  to  that  symbol  of  his  faith.      An  at- 
tempt was  made  to  modify  the  severity  of  the  qualifi- 
cation by  a  recourse  to  the  old  Covenant  or  Confession 
of   1580,   and    so    omitting  the   bitter    supplemental 
document  which  brought  the  terms  of  that  Covenant 
to  bear  on  the  new  grievances.      But  this  was  strenu- 
ously and  fiercely  resisted.     For  a  true  Covenanter  to 
sign  it,  was  likened  to  the  "  horrible  impiety  "  of  one 


14  CHARLES    I. 

who  had  given  his  faith  both  to  the  Old  and  the  New 
Testament,  "  to  sign  only  the  Old  for  fear  of  displeas- 
ing a  Jewish  magistrate  who  neglects  the  New."  ^ 

The  Tables  undertook  the  working  of  the  elections, 
so  as  to  produce  a  thoroughly  Covenanting  Assembly. 
They  resolved  to  go  back  upon  an  Act  of  Assembly 
of  the  year  1597,  which  required  each  presbytery  to 
elect  two  clergymen  and  one  lay  elder,  while  the 
royal  burghs  sent  lay  commissioners — Edinburgh  two, 
and  the  others  one  each.  It  was  thus  that  the  Lords 
and  other  lay  leaders  of  the  Covenant  came  in.  There 
was  some  slight  discord  between  the  clerical  "  Table  " 
and  the  others  on  this  point.  The  clergy  could  not 
but  see  that  this  nominally  rigid  adherence  to  their 
standards  was  transferring  them  into  the  hands  of 
new  masters.  They  could  not  be  blind  to  the  reason 
why  the  office  destined  for  men  of  a  religious  turn 
and  serious  walk  in  life  was  wanted  for  a  haughty 
powerful  nobility,  many  of  them  profligate  livers. 
Among  them,  indeed,  were  men  fighting  their  own 
personal  battle  for  the  preservation  of  the  old  ecclesi- 
astical estates,  which  they  believed  to  be  in  clanger — 
all  had  a  personal  dislike  of  the  bishops,  as  assuming 
a  superiority  over  them.  But  it  was  in  such  men  that 
the  strength  of  the  Assembly  as  a  hostile  declaration 
against  the  Court  lay,  and  they  prevailed  in  the 
elections. 

The  Tables  sent  instructions  to  the  constituencies — 
some  of  a  public  character  known  at  the  time,  others 
of  a  more  secret  kind,  which  have  only  lately  seen 
the  light.  In  these,  provision  was  made  for  striking  a 
simple  but  decisive  blow  against  the  bishops.     They 

1  Jlonteth's  Historj-  of  the  Troubles,  29. 


GLASGOW   ASSEMBLY,    1638.  15 

were  all  to  be  put  on  trial  before  the  Assembly  as 
criminals,  therefore  they  could  not  be  members  of 
the  Assembly,  since  it  was  the  tribunal  before  which 
they  were  to  be  tried.  To  carry  this  exclusion  into  the 
lower  grades  of  the  Church,  a  minister  was  to  be  dis- 
qualified from  election  if  any  one  should  bring  a  pro- 
cess against  him  as  "  erroneous  in  doctrine  or  scandal- 
ous in  life."  As  a  criterion  for  choosing  the  right 
men,  presbyteries  were  carefully  to  avoid  "  Chapter 
men  who  have  chosen  bishops,  those  who  have  sitten 
upon  the  High  Commission,  chapel  men  who  have 
countenanced  the  chapel  ceremonies  and  novations, 
all  who  have  offered  to  read  and  practice  the  Service- 
book,  the  Book  of  Canons,  and  ministers  who  are  jus- 
tice of  peace."  The  Tables  supplied  the  presbyteries 
with  forms  of  commission  to  be  given  to  their  repre- 
sentatives, and  other  guidance  for  the  transaction  of 
business.  These  instructions  were  accompanied  by 
a  letter  attuned  to  the  exuberant  piety  of  the  time 
and  place.  Besides  the  clerical  members  of  the  Tables, 
it  bore  the  signatures  of  the  lay  chiefs,  Montrose,  as 
usual,  taking  the  lead.^  He  afterwards,  with  charac- 
teristic rashness,  brought  some  scandal  on  the  Assem- 
bly by  avowing  and  hotly  supporting  the  approval  of 
a  candidate  by  the  Tables,  as  if  it  gave  his  election  a 
legal  sanction.^ 

A  General  Assembly  was  now  a  novelty,  and  indeed 
there  had  been  no  precedent  for  one  like  this.  Such  a 
body,  before  putting  itself  in  working  order,  naturally 
went  through  a  preliminary  phase  of  confusion  and 
mixed  disputation.  The  old  national  practice  of 
"  protestation  "  was  so  amply  exercised,  that,  as  Bail- 

'  Baillie's  Letters,  i.  469  et  seq.  ^  Ibid.,  133. 


l6  CHARLES    I. 

lie  says,  all  were  "  wearied  with  tlie  multitude  of  pro- 
testations but  the  clerk,  who  with  every  one  received 
a  piece  of  gold."  The  superior  weight  of  the  more 
zealoi;s  party  carried  all  points,  and  they  succeeded 
in  the  election  of  Alexander  Henderson  as  moderator 
— "  a  moderator  without  moderation,"  as  Laud  called 
him,  in  one  of  his  efforts  to  be  witty.  Johnston  of 
Warriston  was  the  clerk,  and  thus  became  instructor 
and  director  in  all  things  connected  with  form  and 
law. 

When  he  took  his  chair  of  office,  there  came  a  little 
dramatic  incident  of  Avhich  he  was  the  hero.  In  the 
long  interval  since  Assemblies  were  held,  the  records 
of  the  Church  since  the  Reformation  down  to  the 
year  1590  had  passed  out  of  public  sight.  There  was 
no  one  officially  responsible  for  their  custody,  and 
there  was  a  strong  suspicion  that  they  had  got  foul 
play  at  the  hands  of  the  Episcopal  party  and  the 
Court.  Johnston  laid  on  the  table  certain  volumes 
Avhich  he  maintained  to  be  these  veritable  records — 
they  had  come  into  his  possession  "  by  the  good  pro- 
vidence of  God."  A  committee  of  the  House,  after 
professing  to  have  closely  examined  them,  pronounced 
them  to  be  the  authentic  recoi'd  of  the  Kirk  from  the 
year  1560  to  the  year  1590.^ 

1  Baillie's  Letters,  159,  1.39.  This  reporter  of  the  business  has  thus 
recorded  his  pious  joy  at  this  auspicious  incident :  "  It  is  one  of  the 
notable  passages  of  God's  providence  towards  our  Churcli,  that  these 
books  were  not  destroyed  or  put  in  hands  whence  we  should  never  have 
drawn  them  ;  this  forty  years  bygone  so  great  a  desire  being  in  the 
hearts  of  the  prince  and  prelates  for  covering  in  perpetual  darkness  of 
our  old  Assemblies  which  crossed  their  intentions  :  so  great  negligence 
on  our  parts  to  keep  these  monuments,  that  no  man  among  us,  so  far  as  I 
could  ever  hear,  knew  what  was  become  of  these  books,  but  all  took  it 
for  granted  that  they  were  in  St  Andrews'  possession,  who  would  be  loath 


GLASGOW   ASSEMBLY,    1638.  17 

There  was  a  logical  difficulty  about  these  first  steps. 
The  validity  of  the  elections  had  to  be  tried.  How, 
then,  could  those  present  elect  office-bearers  until  it 
was  known  whether  they  themselves  were  legal  meni- 


ever  to  let  them  go,  or  any  true  doiible  of  them  ;  yet  God  has  brought 
them  out,  and  set  them  up  now  at  the  door  of  our  Church,  to  be  the 
rule,  after  Scripture,  of  this  Assemblie  and  all  their  proceedings." — 
P.  139. 

It  was  the  fate  of  these  books  afterwards  to  pass  through  a  career  as 
remarkable  in  the  unexpected  strangeness  of  its  incidents  as  any  that 
has  enabled  people  to  discover  that  Providence  has  been  specially  at 
work  to  create  the  result  which  pleases  themselves.     In  this  branch  of 
their  career,  however,  the  problem  of  a  special  providence  would  re- 
quire to  be  solved  from  the  other  side,  since  the  end  was  not  the  special 
preservation,  but  the  special  destruction,  of  the  books.     When  the  civil 
war  began  it  was  thought  prudent  to  have  a  duplicate  made  of  the 
records,  and  place  each  record  in  a  place  of  safety.     One  was  preserved 
in  Dumbarton,  the  other  in  the  fortress  of  the  Bass.      This  latter  was 
removed  to  London,  with  other  Scots  records,  by  the  Government  of  the 
Commonwealth.      What  became  of  it  is  not  precisely  known,  but  it 
is  believed  to  have  been  lost,  along  -with  other  records,  on  their  way  to 
Scotland,  in  a  vessel  ship-\^Tecked  in  the  year  1660.     The  Dumbarton 
copy  passed  from  its  official  custodier  to  his  representative,  as  private 
property.     It  fell  into  the  hands  of  Archibald  Campbell,  a  member  of 
the  Argyle  family,  and  a  clergyman  of  the  nonjuring  Episcopal  Church 
of  Scotland .  in  Queen  Anne's  reign.      Mr  Campbell  was  an  eccentric 
man,  and  a  collector  of  rare  books  and  manuscripts,  and  it  was  in  this 
character  that  he  professed  to  take  an  interest  in  the  records.     He  tantal- 
ised the  Church  authorities  in  Scotland  with  offers  to  restore  them  on 
conditions  which  were  pronounced  preposterous.     In  the  end,  according 
to  a  statement  by  Principal  Lee,  "  Mr  Campbell,  as  he  had  sometimes 
threatened  to  do,  took  a  step  which  was  intended  to  put  the  books  for 
ever  beyond  the  reach  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  by  entering  into  a 
deed  of  trust  or  covenant  with  the  President  and  Fellows  of  Sion  College, 
the  terms  of  which  do  not  appear  to  be  accurately  known  to  any  mem- 
ber of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  but  the  effect  of  which  has  undoubtedly 
been  to  detain  these  records  from  their  lawful  owners  for  nearly  a  cen- 
tury past."     This  was  written  in  the  year  1828.     In  the  winter  of  18.34, 
Principal  Lee  was  examined  by  a  select  committee  of  the  House  of 
Commons  on   patronage  in   Scotland.      He  desired  to  refer  to  these 
records,  and  the  all-potent  order  of  the  committee  brought  them  to  St 
Stephen's.    They  were  in  the  charge  of  an  officer  of  the  college,  who 
expected  to  take  them  back  when  they  were  no  longer  needed  for  the 

VOL.  Vlt.  B 


1 8  CHARLES    I. 

bers  of  Assembly  ?  On  the  other  hand,  how  could 
these  nice  questions  be  tried  by  a  chaotic  multitude 
without  an  official  staft"?  The  practical  sense,  so 
conspicuous  in  the  tactic  of  large  assemblages  in  this 
country,  adjusted  the  difficulty.  Let  the  arrangement 
be  made  provisionally — when  the  Assembly  has  ad- 
justed itself,  it  can  rejudge  its  choice.  Down  to  the 
28th,  election  disputes  were  busily  discussed  and 
promptly  settled  in  favour  of  the  prevailing  party. 
One  of  the  questions  the  most  promptly  settled  among 
all  was  of  a  fundamental  character.  A  body  of  the 
clergy  gave  in  a  protestation  against  the  admission 
of  lay  elders  ;  but  this  admitted  not  of  discussion,  for 
it  was  equivalent  to  a  repudiation  of  the  Assembly 
itself. 

Through  all  this  business  the  commissioner  waited 
patiently.  On  the  29th,  when  the  Assembly,  having 
put  itself  in  order,  was  to  begin  its  work,  it  was 
known  that  the  royal  countenance  was  to  be  with- 
drawn. There  was  a  desultory  conversation  about 
the  position  taken  on  both  sides,  involving  the  ques- 
tions of  clerical  independence  and  royal  supremacy, 
which  had  been  so  j^rofusely  reiterated.  The  com- 
missioner then  delivered  a  parting  address,  stating  in 
a  more  technical  and  specific  manner  those  grounds 
on  which  he  could  no  longer  give  the  royal  counte- 
nance to  the  meeting.      They  came  under   two  prin- 

time  ;  but  lie  was  told  that  "  the  committee  wished  the  books  to  lie  upon 
the  table  for  their  inspection,  and  that  the  committee  would  send  for 
him  when  they  wished  them  to  be  returned."  But  before  he  was  sent 
for  the  Houses  of  Parliament  were  burned,  and  tlie  records  in  them. 
See  the  prefaces  to  the  two  editions  of  "  the  Book  of  the  Universal  Kii-k." 
This  title  was  given  to  a  book  often  cited  in  these  pages,  in  which  a 
worthy  attempt  was  made  to  supply  the  substance  of  the  lost  records 
from  other  and  incidental  sources. 


GLASGOW   ASSEMBLY,    1638.  19 

cipal  heads — first,  the  constitution  of  the  Assembly, 
in  so  far  as  lay  elders  were  admitted  ;  second,  the 
form  of  the  business  before  it,  in  as  far  as  it  professed 
to  hold  authority  over  bishops,  and  deliberate  on  the 
validity  of  the  Episcopal  office.  A  proclamation  was 
then  published  at  the  market-cross.  It  was  more 
diffuse  than  the  commissioner's  speech,  going  over 
again  the  whole  c|uarrel  from  the  beginning,  and 
especially  enlarging  on  the  dictatorial  conduct  of  the 
Tables.  It  forbade  all  farther  meetings  of  the  Assem- 
bly, and  required  all  the  individual  members  "  to 
depart  furth  of  this  city  of  Glasgow  within  the  space 
of  twenty-four  hours,  and  to  repair  home  to  their  own 
houses,  or  that  they  go  about  their  private  affairs  in  a 
quiet  manner."  There  was,  of  course,  the  usual  in- 
evitable protestation,  and  the  business  in  hand  went  on. 
The  commissioner's  departure  was  accompanied  by 
an  event  deemed  sufficiently  propitious  to  balance  the 
loss.  Among  the  secondary  questions  about  the  con- 
stitution of  the  Assembly,  one  arose  on  a  proposal  that 
the  officers  of  State  and  some  other  men  of  high  rank 
who  attended  the  commissioner  should  have  votes  in 
the  Assembly  as  "  assessors."  One  of  these  was 
Archibald,  Earl  of  Argyle.  He  was  thirty  years  old. 
His  father,  who  had  died  in  the  spring  of  1638, 
professed  the  old  Church.  By  the  letter  of  the  law 
the  heir  Avas  entitled  to  enjoy  the  estates  of  his  Papist 
father,  and  it  was  said  by  his  enemies  that  he  entered 
on  possession  in  his  father's  lifetime.  But  that  was  an 
affair  of  the  past ;  he  had  now  fully  succeeded  to  the 
honours  and  to  the  estates,  or  rather  dominions,  of  his 
house.  His  following,  estimated  by  mere  numbers,  was 
the  greatest  in  Scotland — greater  than  even  Huntly's. 


20  CHARLES    I. 

It  was  rumoured  tliat  he  could  bring  five  thousand 
men  into  the  field.  He  was  counted  among  those 
favourable  to  the  Covenant,  but  he  was  not  yet  a  Cov- 
enanter. He  took  the  opportunity,  before  Hamilton's 
farewell,  to  address  the  Assembly.  He  said  he  had  been 
sent  there  by  the  king,  but  he  had  impartially  watched 
their  proceedings  as  a  neutral  person.  "  I  have  not," 
he  said,  "  striven  to  blow  the  bellows,  but  studied  to 
keep  matters  in  as  soft  a  temper  as  I  could  ;  and  now 
I  desire  to  make  it  known  to  you,  that  I  take  you  all 
for  members  of  a  lawful  Assembly  and  honest  country- 
men." He  had  himself,  as  yet,  only,  like  others  of  the 
Court,  put  his  hand  to  the  old  Confession  without  the 
protestation  against  the  recent  innovations ;  but  that 
he  had  gone  only  so  far  was  not  to  be  imputed  to  him 
as  disloyal  to  the  Covenant.  Some  other  nobles  came 
forward  in  the  same  condition — they  had  signed  the 
"  King's  Confession,"  as  it  was  called,  but  they  were 
true  Covenanters — among  these,  Montrose,  who  was  a 
busy  member  of  the  Assembly,  proclaimed  the  names 
of  the  Earl  of  Mar  and  his  own  relation,  Lord  Napier. 
The  departure  of  the  commissioner  gave  no  inter- 
ruption to  the  weighty  afi'airs  on  hand.  The  first 
business  of  moment  completed  by  the  Assembly  was 
the  repeal  or  annulling  of  the  Acts  of  preceding  As- 
semblies from  1606  downwards,  including  the  Five 
Articles  of  Perth.  Then  the  Service-book,  the  Book  of 
Canons,  and  the  Book  of  Ordination  were  severally 
repudiated,  for  reasons  of  which  enough  has  been  seen 
to  render  repetition  unnecessary.  Then  came  the  great 
scene  of  the  trial  of  the  bishops  and  their  "  declina- 
ture." This  was  a  document  in  which  at  some  length 
the  bishops  protested  against  the  power  of  the  Assembly 


GLASGOW   ASSEMBLY,    1638.  21 

to  deal  with  them,  a  doctrine  for  which  men  in  their 
position  could  find  many  obvious  reasons.  The 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland,  in  the  practice  of  its 
judicatories,  has  ever  sought  the  principle,  that  judicial 
proceedings  are  to  begin  in  the  lower  and  find  their 
way  up  to  the  higher  courts.  On  the  present  occasion 
they  were  true  to  the  spirit  of  this  principle.  The 
"libel"  or  indictment  against  the  bishops  was  first 
laid  before  the  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  who  referred 
it  to  the  Assembly.  By  discounting  the  Articles  of 
Perth  and  the  several  laws  recently  passed  for  the  re- 
storation of  Episcopacy  as  all  being  null,  there  was 
ample  opportunity  to  show  that,  both  in  the  titles  and 
powers  they  adopted,  and  in  the  ceremonials  which 
they  practised,  the  bishops  had  acted  against  the  laws 
of  the  Church.  But  it  has  ever  been  the  good  fortune 
of  those  who  have  from  time  to  time  raised  a  war  of 
extermination  against  bishops,  to  find  that  they  are  all 
so  vicious  in  their  lives  as  to  render  unnecessary  any 
discussion  of  doctrines  and  ceremonies  as  a  means  of 
driving  them  from  the  Church.  The  Tables  sent 
clown  to  the  several  presbyteries  a  list  of  the  crimes 
which  it  was  desirable  to  prove  against  bishops — a 
list  which  has  the  merit  of  distinctness,  in  the  use  of 
terms  from  which  the  decorum  of  modern  literature 
shrinks.  As  Baillie  remarks,  with  exulting  candour, 
on  his  way  to  join  the  conclave  in  Edinburgh,  "No 
kind  of  crime  which  can  be  gotten  proven  of  a  bishop 
will  now  be  concealed."^  The  Bishop  of  Dunblane 
being  denounced  as  a  corrupter  of  the  people  by  the 
spread  of  Arminianism,  and  an  agent  of  Canterbury's, 
there  follows  the  remark,  "  What  drunkenness,  swear- 

^  Letters,  i.  105. 


22  CHARLES    I. 

ing,  or  other  crimes  was  libelled,  I  do  not  remember;"  ^ 
as  if  these  things  must  have  been  charged  as  a  matter 
of  form,  although  the  fact  is  forgotten. 

It  seems  to  have  been  felt  that  to  speak  of  a  virtu- 
ous bishop  was  a  logical  contradiction,  as  if  one  should 
say  an  honest  swindler  or  a  moral  gambler.  Guthrie, 
Bishop  of  ]Moray,  had,  we  are  told,  "  all  the  ordinary 
faults  of  a  bishop,  besides  his  boldness  to  be  the  first 
who  put  on  his  sleeves  in  Edinburgh."  "  There  was 
objected  against  him,"  continues  Baillie,  "but,  as  I 
suspect,  not  sufficiently  proven,  his  countenancing  of 
a  vile  dance  of  naked  women  in  his  own  house,  and 
of  women  going  barefooted  on  pilgrimages  not  far 
from  his  dwelling."  "  It  would  seem,  indeed,  as  if 
the  idolatry  of  the  old  Church,  sensuality,  and  pro- 
fanity were  deemed  natural  companions,  each  helping 
and  promoting  the  others.  The  Bishop  of  Edinburgh 
was  "  a  bower  to  the  altar,  a  wearer  of  the  rochet,  a 
consecrator  of  churches,"  and,  as  a  natural  accompani- 
ment of  such  practices,  he  "  made  no  bones  of  swear- 
ing and  cursino;."  ^ 

The  end  was,  that  of  the  fourteen  prelates  six  were 
simply  deposed,  eight  were  deposed  and  excommuni- 
cated. The  moderator  uttered  the  sentences  against 
them  in  a  sermon,  having  for  its  text,  "  The  Lord 
said  unto  my  Lord,  Sit  thou  at  my  right  hand  until  I 
make  thine  enemies  thy  footstool."  The  bystander  so 
often  quoted  has  these  notes  and  reflections  on  the  occa- 
sion :  "  Thereafter  in  a  very  dreadful  and  grave  manner 
he  pronounced  these  sentences  as  ye  have  them  in  print. 
My  heart  was  filled  with  admii-ation  of  the  power  and 
justice  of  God,  who  can  bring  down  the  highest  and 

1  Letters,  i.  108.  =  Ibid.,  164.  »  Ibid.,  161. 


GLASGOW    ASSEMBLY,    163S.  23 

pour  shame  on  them,  even  in  this  world,  suddenly,  by 
a  means  utterly  unexpected,  who  will  sin  against  Him 
proudly  with  a  uplifted  hand.  And  withal  I  heartily 
pitied  those  who  Avere  excommunicate,  remembering 
the  great  gifts  of  some  and  eminent  places  of  all, 
whence  their  ambition  and  avarice  had  pvilled  them 
down  to  the  dunghill  of  contempt."  ^ 

The  sentence  of  excommunication  placed  the  poor 
men  in  great  peril.  By  the  letter  of  the  law  the  ex- 
communicated person  could  hold  no  civil  rights — he 
was  an  outlaw.  When  the  ecclesiastical  courts  were 
at  enmity  with  the  executive  this  might  be  an  empty 
threat,  but  now  those  who  had  thundered  the  excom- 
munications had  the  power  of  all.  As  a  body  the 
bishops  sought  refuge  in  England,  throwing  themselves 
in  utter  wretchedness  on  the  charity  of  their  party  there, 
who  were  themselves  in  anxiety  and  peril.  There  was 
a  general  clearing  off  of  the  Episcopal  party  among 
the  ordinary  clergy,  and  it  helped  on  the  work  of 
weedino;  that  the  Church  was  to  contain  within  its 
bosom  no  clergy  who  had  not  sufficient  parochial  work 
to  occupy  their  time. 

After  transacting  a  crowd  of  other  affairs,  chiefly  for 
the  reconstruction  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  courts, 
and  interesting  only  to  those  who  have  to  deal  with 
these  tribunals,  this  renowned  Assembly  dispersed  on 
the  20th  of  December.^ 

A  change  now  comes  over  the  spirit  of  our  history. 
A  few  casual  controversies  may  continue  to  interrupt 

1  Letters,  i.  168. 

''  The  test  collection  of  materials  for  the  history  of  the  Assembly  of 
1638  is  to  he  found  in  Peterkin's  'Records  of  the  Kirk  of  Scotland, 
containing  the  Acts  and  Proceedings  of  the  General  Assemblies  from 
the  year  1638  downwards.' 


24  CHARLES    I. 

the  path ;  but  we  are  now  free  of  that  complex  laby- 
rinth of  political  and  polemical  wrangling  which  has 
to  be  traced  through  the  dense  mass  of  State  papers 
and  pamphlets  of  the  day,  and  we  come  forth  into  the 
open  field  of  war.  The  sword  was  first  drawn  in  the 
north — Scot  against  Scot.  Between  the  signing  of 
the  Covenant  and  the  holding  of  the  Assemlily,  the 
Tables  had  determined  to  subdue  the  city  of  Al^erdeen 
and  the  district  around  it,  and  to  compel  the  peo23le 
there  to  sign  the  Covenant.  A  committee  of  clergymen, 
with  the  Earl  of  Montrose  as  their  leader  or  chairman, 
was  sent  northwards  to  deal  with  these  uncovenanted 
people.  There  were  among  the  clergy  three  eminent 
men — the  great  Henderson,  David  Dickson,  and 
Andrew  Cant,  a  clergyman  of  Aberdeenshire,  whose 
zeal  for  the  Covenant  appears  to  have  been  heated 
and  hardened  by  the  antagonistic  pressure  of  his 
prelatical  neighbours.  The  capital  of  the  north  was 
famous  for  its  hospitality,  and  every  distinguished 
stranger  was  welcomed  by  the  corporation  to  a  wine- 
banquet,  or  "  cup  of  bon-accord,"  as  it  was  termed, 
in  tlie  words  of  the  motto  on  the  corporation  arms. 
When  this  hospitality  was  offered  to  the  new  visitors 
it  was  "  disdainfully  refused."  They  would  not  have 
fellowship  with  the  uncovenanted.  "  They  would 
drink  none  with  them  till  first  the  Covenant  was  sub- 
scribed." This  was  an  insult  "  whereof  the  like  Avas 
never  done  to  Aberdeen  in  no  man's  memory."  The 
materials  for  the  feast  were  distributed  among  the 
city  paupers,  a  disposal  which  had  a  touch  of  disdain 
in  it.^ 

The  three  clerical  commissioners  desired  to  occupy 

^  Spalding's  Memorials,  i.  91,  92. 


CONFLICT    IN    THE    NORTH,    1638-39.  25 

the  city  pulpits  next  Sunday,  but  the  clergymen  to 
whom  these  belonged  thought  fit  to  use  them  for  their 
own  ordinary  ministrations.  The  visitors  had  one  im- 
portant supporter  in  the  district,  the  Earl  Marischal, 
whose  winter  hotel  was  in  the  centre  of  the  town,  and 
in  the  place  now  known  as  Marischal  Street.  The 
house  had  wooden  benches  or  galleries  in  front,  and 
there  the  three  ministers  preached  in  succession,  judi- 
ciously occupying  the  intervals  between  the  regular 
church  services.  The  community  of  this  isolated 
district,  with  the  group  of  scholars  belonging  to  its 
cathedral  and  colleges,  and  its  Episcopalian  tastes,  was 
liker  to  one  of  the  smaller  cathedral  towns  of  Eng- 
land than  any  other  part  of  Scotland  was.  Hence 
the  ways  of  the  new-comers  were  as  strange  and  pecu- 
liar there  as  they  would  have  been  in  Canterbury.^ 
The  strangers  had  a  considerable  audience,  but  an 
audience  neither  sympathetic  nor  reverential.  So 
each  party,  with  very  little  trouble,  had  managed  to 
cast  tokens  of  bitter  desjjite  at  the  other. 

The  strife  Avhich  had  thus  been  sown  first  broke 
forth  in  print.  The  attack  was  begun  by  six  of  the 
Aberdeen  clergy — John  Forbes  of  Corse ;  Robert  Baron, 
Professor  of  Divinity ;  Alexander  Scrogie  ;  William 
Leslie,  Principal  of  King's  College  ;  John  Sibbald,  and 
Alexander  Ross.  They  were  all  men  of  ability  and 
learning  ;  but  three  of  their  names  had  a  wide  renown 
— Forbes,  Baron,  and  Ross  ;  the  last  will  perhaps  be 
remembered  more  for  its  curious  service  in  helping 
Butler  to  a  two-syllabled  rhyme,  than  for  its  owner's 
works,  though  they  had  in  their  day  considerable  re- 
nown.     These  began  by  issuing  '  General  Demands 

1  Spalding's  Memorials,  i.  92 ;  Gordon's  Soots  Affairs,  i.  84. 


26  CHARLES    I. 

concerning  the  late  Covenant,  propounded  by  the  Min- 
isters and  Professors  of  Divinity  in  Aberdeen  to  some 
Reverend  Brethren  who  came  thither  to  recommend 
the  late  Covenant  to  them,  and  to  those  who  were  com- 
mitted to  their  charge.'  The  controversy  spread  over 
several  papers  on  both  sides  ;  and  the  whole  of  them 
were  arranged  and  printed  by  "  the  Aberdeen  Doctors," 
as  they  were  called,  under  the  nomenclature  of  the 
stages  in  a  suit  of  law.  To  the  Demands  there  were 
"  Answers,"  to  these  came  "  Eeplies  "  by  the  Doctors  ; 
then  second  Answers,  and  finally  "  Duplies  "  by  the 
Doctors.  A  piece  of  dry  humour  was  no  doubt  in- 
tended in  these  titles  ;  but  it  is  not  likely  to  be  en- 
joyed in  the  present  day,  nor  are  the  papers  in  sub- 
stance very  attractive.  The  position  taken  by  the 
Doctors  is  the  unassailable  one  of  the  dry  sarcastic 
negative.  AVhatever  the  Covenant  might  be — good  or 
bad — and  whatever  right  its  approvers  had  to  bind 
themselves  to  it,  how  were  they  entitled  to  force  it 
on  those  who  desired  it  not  ?  And  when  their  adver- 
saries became  eloquent  on  its  conformity  to  Scripture 
and  the  privileges  of  the  Christian  Church,  the  Doctors 
ever  went  back  to  the  same  negative  position — even  if 
it  were  so,  which  we  do  not  admit,  yet  why  force  it 
upon  lis  ?  ^ 

^  Tlie  "  Doctors  "  had  the  gratification  to  receive  from  the  king  a 
brief  but  favourable  criticism  of  their  part  in  tlie  controversy.  They 
were  commended  for  tlieir  loyal  service,  and  particularly  for  "  hindering 
some  strange  ministers"  from  preaching  in  their  churches.  The  king 
said  he  had  not  had  time  to  consult  some  of  their  own  profession,  whose 
judgment  he  p)roposed  to  ask  on  their  merits ;  but  from  his  "  own  read- 
ing of  them  ■' — he  does  not  say  how  far  it  had  gone — he  says,  "  we  do  hold 
them,  both  with  learning  and  a  peaceable  moderate  style,  answerable  to 
men  of  your  profession  and  place."— Documents,  Spalding's  Memorials, 
i.  98,  99. 


CONFLICT    IN    THE    NORTH,    1639.  Z^ 

The  commissioners  having  canvassed  the  town  and 
county  of  Aberdeen,  retm-ned  with  a  scanty  list  of 
adherents  to  the  Covenant.  It  gradually  increased, 
however ;  for  there  was  a  political  party  there,  as  well 
as  elsewhere,  to  whom  it  was  convenient.  Some  who 
chafed  rmder  the  power  of  the  Gordons — such  as  the 
Frasers,  the  Forbeses,  and  the  Keiths,  whose  chief,  the 
Earl  Marischal,  had  already  helped  the  Covenanters — 
ultimately  joined  them,  to  the  weakening  of  Huntly's 
power.  Early  in  the  year  1639,  the  Tables,  who  saw 
a  greater  war  before  them,  resolved  to  deal,  in  the  first 
place,  with  the  malignants  of  the  north,  and  relieve 
themselves  from  an  enemy  in  the  rear.  A  fine  small 
army  of  some  three  or  four  thousand  men  was  thus 
gathered  and  disciplined  under  the  command  of  Mon- 
trose, w^th  the  experienced  Leslie  as  his  lieutenant. 
In  February,  and  before  it  had  been  put  in  marching 
order,  the  commander  heard  that  the  few  friends  of 
his  cause  in  Aberdeenshire  were  to  meet  in  Turriff,  on 
the  border  of  Banffshire,  then  a  market-town  of  some 
importance,  but  now  a  mere  village.  He  heard,  also, 
that  the  Gordons  were  to  assemble  in  force  to  disperse 
them;  and  he  resolved,  by  one  of  those  bold  and  ori- 
ginal acts  in  which  his  strength  lay,  to  protect  his 
friends.  Taking  with  him  not  quite  two  hundred  men, 
he  moved  this  light  body,  by  the  unfrequented  drove- 
roads  of  the  uplands,  across  the  Grampians,  by  Fetter- 
cairn  and  the  Cairn  0'  Month,  and  had  them  placed 
behind  the  churchyard- wall  of  Turriff,  as  a  breast-work 
to  them,  before  the  Gordons  arrived.  These  were  a 
large  body — two  thousand,  it  was  said — with  Huntly 
at  their  head.  He,  so  far  as  the  king  was  concerned, 
had  been  named  the  royal  lieutenant  in  the  north ;  but 


28  CHARLES    I. 

lie  shrank  from  then  drawing  the  first  bk)od,  though 
he  might  have  been  secure  of  victory;  and  allowed  the 
Covenanters  to  have  their  way.  It  was  said  that  there 
was  a  policy  in  his  abstinence.  He  had  been  instructed 
not  to  proclaim  his  lieutenancy  until  some  great  emer- 
gency occurred.  The  Turriff  meeting  was  in  the  mid- 
dle of  February,  and  he  proclaimed  his  commission  a 
month  later.  It  was  desirable  that  he  should  forbear 
until  the  royal  forces  were  at  hand,  lest,  if  he  came 
to  issue  with  the  strong  army  of  the  Covenanters 
while  free  to  act,  it  might  crush  him,  and  extinguish 
the  only  available  ally  whom  the  royal  army  was  to 
find  in  Scotland.^  At  the  same  time,  his  authority  was 
in  an  awkward  position.  His  commission  as  lieuten- 
ant had  been  "stopped  at  the  Seals."  It  had  not 
received,  and  was  not  now  likely  to  receive,  official 
attestation,  as  sealed  and  certified  by  the  proper  Gov- 
ernment officers.^  Meanwhile  the  citizens  of  Aber- 
deen were  fortifying  their  town,  and  the  general  tone 
of  tacit  menace  in  the  district  prompted  the  Tables  to 
strike  a  blow  in  the  north  before  their  hands  became 
full  elsewhere.  The  force  at  their  disposal  was  too 
overwhelming  to  be  safely  resisted.  It  is  said  that 
nine  thousand  marched  northwards,  and  were  joined 
by    two    thousand    from    those    families    who    were 

'  Gordon's  Scots  Affairs,  ii.  2U1,  313,  314  ;  Spalding's  Memorials,  i. 
145.  "  A  commission  for  the  lieutenancy  of  the  north  of  Scotland  was 
sent  to  the  Marquis  of  Huntly ;  but  he  was  ordered  to  keep  it  up  as  long 
as  possible,  and  carefully  to  observe  two  things.  One  was,  not  to  be  the 
first  aggressor,  except  he  were  highly  provoked,  or  his  majesty's  authority 
signally  affronted;  the  other  was,  that  he  should  keep  oft'  with  long  wea- 
pons till  his  majesty  were  on  the  Borders,  lest,  if  he  should  begin  sooner, 
the  Covenanters  might  overwhelm  him  with  their  whole  force,  and  either 
ruin  him  or  force  him  to  lay  down  his  arms." — Burnet's  Memoirs,  113. 

"  Spalding's  Memorials,  i.  168. 


CONFLICT    IN    THE    NORTH,    1639.  29 

zealous  against  the  house  of  Gordon,  if  not  for  the 
Covenant. 

The  town  -  clerk  of  Aberdeen,  whose  descriptive 
powers  had  probably  been  exercised  on  inventories  of 
furniture  and  commodities,  brings  before  our  eyes  this 
well-ordered  army  with  a  distinctness  such  as  we 
often  seek  vainly  in  the  pompous  technical  narratives 
of  those  who  profess  an  acquaintance  with  military 
science.  Perhaps  his  very  ignorance  of  the  apparatus 
of  war,  and  the  novelty  of  the  sight,  made  its  impres- 
sion on  his  mind  all  the  clearer :  "  They  came  in  order 
of  battle,  well  armed,  both  on  horse  and  foot,  ilk  horse- 
man having  five  shot  at  the  least,  where  he  had  ane 
carbine  in  his  hand,  two  pistols  by  his  side,  and  other 
two  at  his  saddle-tor.  The  pikemen  in  their  ranks,  with 
pike  and  sword ;  the  musketeers  in  their  ranks,  with 
musket,  musket-staff,  bandeleer,  sword,  powder,  ball, 
and  match.  Ilk  company,  both  on  horse  and  foot,  had 
their  captains,  lieutenants,  ensigns,  sergeants,  and  other 
officers  and  commanders,  all  for  the  most  part  in  buffle 
coats  and  goodly  order.  They  had  five  colours  or  en- 
signs, whereof  the  Earl  of  Montrose  had  one,  having 
this  motto  drawn  in  letters,  '  Foe.  Religion,  the  Co- 
venant, AND  THE  Country.'  The  Earl  Marisal  had 
one,  the  Earl  of  Kinghorn  had  one,  and  the  town  of 
Dundee  had  two.  They  had  trumpeters  to  ilk  com- 
pany of  horsemen,  and  drummers  to  ilk  company  of 
footmen.  They  had  their  meat,  drink,  and  other  pro- 
visions, bag  and  baggage,  carried  with  them. — Done  all 
by  advice  of  his  excellency  Felt-Marshal  Leslie,  whose 
counsel  General  Montrose  followed  in  this  business. 
Now,  in  seemly  order  and  good  array,  this  army  came 
forward  and  entered  the  burgh  of  Aberdeen  about  ten 


30  CHARLES    I. 

hours  in  the  morning,  at  the  Over-Kirkgate  Port,  syne 
came  down  through  the  Broadgate,  through  the  Castle- 
gate,  out  at  the  Justice  Port  to  the  Queen's  Links  di- 
rectly." 1 

The  Covenanting  clergy  now  got  possession  of  the 
Aberdeen  pulpits,  A\'here,  in  the  month  of  April,  they 
were  al^le  to  proclaim  against  the  bisliop  the  doom  that 
had  been  pronounced  in  December.  He  and  all  other 
persons  of  note  who  would  not  take  the  Covenant  had 
iled  from  the  town.  Those  who  remained  submitted 
quietly  to  the  test,  whether  with  sincerity  or  not.  All 
things  were  orderly.  No  plundering  was  allowed. 
The  community  were  required  to  compel  the  suspic- 
ious people  to  furnish  provisions,  but  they  were  paid 
for.  A  contribution  of  ten  thousand  marks  was  levied 
on  the  community  at  large,  out  of  which  the  individ- 
ual creditors  of  the  army  were  paid.  The  ten  thou- 
sand marks  were  accepted  as  a  dramatic  surprise  in 
relief  from  a  penal  impost  of  ten  times  the  amount. 
The  poor  provost,  when  the  first  demand  was  made, 
said  it  was  impossible  to  raise  a  hundred  thousand 
marks.  On  this  "  the  general  nobly  said  :  '  Since  ye 
have  subscribed  our  Covenant,  we  think  us  all  but  one  ; 
therefore  we  will  not  take  so  great  a  sum  from  you, 
upon  condition  ye  contribute  with  us  in  this  our  good 
cause  since  the  beginning,  and  in  time  coming  Avith 
men  and  moneys  as  occasion  shall  offer ;  and  in  the 
mean  time  give  up  the  names  of  your  neighbours  who 
have  fled  the  town  for  fear  of  us,  that  we  may  plunder 
their  goods  at  our  pleasure  during  their  absence,  and 
likewise  with  all  convenient  speed  to  go  fortify  your 
blockhouse  with  men  and  cannon,  and  other  necessaries 

'  Spalding's  Memorials,  i.  154. 


CONFLICT    IN    THE    NORTH,    1639.  31 

for  defence  of  foreign  invasion,  if  it  shall  happen  at  the 
water-month  ;  and  withal  to  lay  us  down  ten  thousand 
marks  for  support  of  our  army's  charges."  ^  As  appro- 
priate to  Montrose's  reasonable  clemency,  it  must  be 
noted  that  when  Aberdeen  sent  commissioners  to  re- 
present the  town  at  "  the  Tables,"  these  laid  a  fine  of 
forty  thousand  marks  on  their  community  "  for  their 
outstanding  against  them  and  their  Covenant."  ^ 

Argyle  sent  five  hundred  of  his  Highlanders  to  swell 
the  Covenanting  force  in  Aberdeen.  It  did  not  suit 
the  policy  of  the  commander  at  that  time  to  be  assisted 
by  such  inveterate  marauders.  He  therefore  stationed 
them  where  they  could  conveniently  foray  on  the 
lands  of  the  Irvines  and  other  malignants.  This  was 
a  happy  arrangement.  They  were  at  hand  in  case  of 
need,  they  supported  themselves,  and  they  chastised 
the  enemy.  When  the  business  was  completed,  and  a 
strong  organisation  established,  it  was  deemed  safe  to 
bring  them  into  quarters  assigned  to  them  in  the  city, 
with  strong  injunctions  to  abstain  from  mischief  So, 
just  before  the  departure  of  the  main  body  of  the  army, 
they  A^^ere  marched  from  the  ground,  "where  they 
wanted  not  abundance  of  beef,  mutton,  and  other  good 
fare  for  little  pay,  in  order  of  battle,  with  bagpipes 
and  Highland  arms."^  On  the  12th  of  April  the 
infantry  marched  southwards  imder  Leslie  ;  and  it  is 
noted  by  the  town-clerk,  "Thus  Felt  Leslie  marched 
upon  Good  Friday ;  but  in  none  of  the  Aberdeens  was 
there  preaching,  as  was  used  before  upon  Good  Friday, 
according  to  the  Perth  Articles — such  was  the  change 
of  time."  ^ 

1  Spalding's  Memorials,  i.  167.  ""  Ibid.,  172. 

3  Ibid.,  166.  '  Ibid.,  168. 


32  CHARLES    I. 

Himtlv,  findiuo;  that,  unless  he  received  aid  from  the 
king — and  that  -n-as  now  unlikely  to  come  soon — he 
would  speedily  be  overwhelmed,  desired  to  make  what 
terms  he  could  with  safety  and  honour,  and  proposed 
to  hold  a  meeting  with  ^lontrose.  They  met  twice 
in  a  place  selected  as  safe  for  the  purpose,  each  with 
eleven  followers,  and  all  armed  no  further  than  with 
the  indispensable  sword.  Huntly  \A'ished  to  conform 
to  existing  conditions  without  actually  humiliating 
himself  to  sign  the  Covenant.  He  and  his  Protestant 
friends  were  content  to  acknowledge  the  old  Confes- 
sions, and  to  subscribe  a  document  maintainino-  the 
king's  authority,  "  together  with  the  liberties  both  of 
Church  and  State — of  religion  and  laws."  He  pro- 
posed a  course  for  the  co-operation  even  of  the  Papists 
of  the  north,  "  they  subscribing  a  declaration  of  their 
willingness  to  concur  with  the  C*ovenanters  of  main- 
tainino- the  laws  and  liberties  of  the  kingdom."  ^ 

In  point  of  policy  this  was  a  promising  bargain  to 
the  Tables — it  secured  to  them  the  neutrality,  if  not 
the  active  assistance,  of  the  only  force  that  could 
elFeetually  trouble  them  at  home  in  co-operation  with 
an  English  invasion.  How  the  zealous  Covenanters 
might  take  it,  and  how  Montrose,  when  he  accepted 
the  terms,  counted  upon  their  conduct,  are  among  the 
smaller  mysteries  of  history. 

It  was  desirable  that,  to  complete  the  arrangements, 
Huntly  should  come  to  Aberdeen.  He  was  now  no 
longer  an  enemy,  and  the  exceeding  caution  of  the 
previous  meetings  was  unnecessary.  Still  there  might 
be  quarrels  and  difficulties ;  and  he  required  a  safe- 
conduct,  insuring  his  life  and  liberty.      It  was  signed 

1  Spa.ldm<,''s  Memorials,  i.  157,  160  ;  Gordon's  Scuts  Affairs,  ii.  233. 


CONFLICT    IN    THE    NORTH,    1639,  33 

by  Montrose  and  some  others.^  Huntly  had  been 
in  Aberdeen  some  two  or  three  days,  hospitably  enter- 
tained in  the  house  of  the  Laird  of  Pitfodels,  when  he 
began  to  have  an  unpleasant  sensation  that  his  steps 
were  watched  and  his  abode  guarded.  When  he 
sovxght  an  explanation,  the  end  was  that  he  found  he 
was  to  be  removed  to  Edinburgh.  Nominally  he 
went  of  his  own  freewill,  but  really  as  entirely  a 
prisoner  as  the  genteel  criminal  who,  to  save  appear- 
ances, is  permitted  to  drive  with  his  captor  in  a  car- 
riage to  prison.  On  this  transaction  a  question  has 
been  debated,  whether,  on  the  one  hand,  it  was  a  bold 
stroke  of  treachery,  devised  and  executed  by  Mon- 
trose ;  or,  on  the  other,  it  was  a  surrender  of  his  own 
naturally  honourable  nature  to  the  stronger  and  un- 
scrupulous will  of  Huntly's  personal  enemies.  On 
neither  side  is  there  anything  to  found  on  better  than 
the  account  of  the  town-clerk  of  Aberdeen,  and  the 
best  that  can  be  done  for  the  reader  is  to  give  his  story. 
He  tells  how  Montrose  asked  the  marquess  to  shake 
hands  with  the  deadly  enemy  of  his  house,  Fren- 
draught,  and  put  several  other  points,  which  are  called 
"  frivolovis,"  until  at  last  he  turned  to  his  great  pur- 
pose, and  said  :  "  '  My  lord,  seeing  we  are  all  now 
friends,  will  ye  go  south  to  Edinburgli  with  us  ? '  The 
marquis,  seeing  his  purpose,  answered  quickly  :  '  My 
lord,  I  am  here  in  this  town  upon  assurance  that  I 
would  come  and  go  at  my  own  pleasure  but  [without] 
molestation  or  inquietation.  And  now  I  see  by  con- 
dition my  lodging  was  guarded  that  I  could  not  come 

'  "  Huntly's  desire  was  granted,  and  an  assurance  sent  him  under  the 
chief  men's  hands,  especially  Montrose's,  that  he  should  he  free  to  re- 
turn."— Gordon's  Scots  Affairs,  ii.  235. 

VOL.  VIT.  C 


34  CHARLES    I. 

out  nor  in.  And  now  by  expectation  ye  would  take 
myself — who  is  here  and  bidden  here  by  your  lordship, 
in  quiet  manner,  merry  and  glad — and  carry  me  to 
Edinburgh  whether  I  would  or  not.  This,  in  my 
sight,  seems  not  fair  nor  honourable.'  Always  says 
he,  '  My  lord,  give  me  my  bond  whilk  I  gave  you  at 
Inverurie,  and  ye  shall  have  ane  answer ; '  whilk  the 
general  obeyed,  and  delivered  to  the  marquis.  Then 
he  said,  '  Whether  will  ye  take  me  south  as  ane  cap- 
tive, or  willingly  of  my  own  mind  % '  The  general 
answered,  '  Make  your  choice.'  Then  he  said,  '  I  will 
not  go  as  ane  captive,  but  as  ane  volunteer ; '  where- 
upon he  comes  to  door,  hastily  goes  to  his  own  lodg- 
ing, where  he  finds  the  same  strictly  guarded  with 
musketeers."  ^ 

Some  of  Huntly's  friends  besought  Montrose  to 
leave  a  hostage  for  him,  but  this  he  refused.  The  mar- 
c[uess  had  been  attended  by  two  of  his  sons — the  Lord 
Gordon,  the  eldest,  and  his  brother,  the  Lord  Aboyne 
— who  were  persuaded  by  their  kindred  to  return  to 
Strathbogie.  On  reaching  Edinburgh  the  marquess 
was  secured  in  the  castle.  This  transaction  cast  a 
shadow  on  the  destinies  of  Montrose,  and  crossed  his 
path  towards  objects  very  different  from  those  on 
which  he  was  dreaming  as  an  unscrupulous  promoter 
of  the  Covenant.  One  who  had  good  opportunities  of 
knowing  how  Huntly  felt  tells  us :  "  For  Montrose 
going  along  with  that  action  it  is  most  certain,  to  the 
best  of  my  knowledge — for  I  write  this  knowingly — 
that  it  bred  such  a  distaste  in  Huntly  against  Mon- 
trose, that  afterwards,  when  Montrose  fell  off  to  the 
king  and  forsook   the  Covenanters,  and  was  glad  to 

'  Spalding's  Memorials,  i.  170. 


CONFLICT    IN    THE    NORTH,    1639.  35 

get  the  assistance  of  Huntly  and  his  followers,  the 
Marquis  of  Huntly  could  never  be  gained  to  join 
cordially  with  him,  nor  to  swallow  that  indignity. 
This  bred  jars  betwixt  them  in  the  carrying  on  of  the 
war,  and  that  which  was  pleasing  to  the  one  was 
seldom  pleasing  to  the  other.  Whence  it  came  to 
pass  that  such  as  were  equally  enemies  to  both  (who 
knew  it  well  enough)  were  secured,  and  in  end  pre- 
vailed so  far  as  to  ruinate  and  destroy  both  of  them, 
and  the  king  by  a  consequent."  ^ 

At  the  moment  the  achievement  appeared  to  be  a 
success,  since  it  shook  and  Aveakened  the  combination 
which  formed  the  Cavalier  strength  in  the  north. 
One  must  keep  in  view  the  peculiar  and  complex 
structure  of  the  organisation  of  which  Huntly  was  the 
head,  to  know  how  chaotic  and  purposeless  it  might 
become  when  that  head  was  gone.  The  removal  of 
a  king  from  a  well-organised  independent  state  might 
have  less  influence,  because  naturally  the  organisation 
would  be  sufficiently  sound  to  work  for  him  iu  his 
absence.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  head  of  a  clan 
got  into  trouble — a  frequent  occurrence — the  heir  or 
next  in  command  would  get  the  obedience  of  the  elan. 
The  clansmen  held  of  such  a  leader  by  pure  loyalty  ; 
but  the  greater  portion  of  the  force  commanded  by 
Huntly  was  kept  together  not  by  loyalty  to  him  but 
by  policy  —  the  policy  of  combining  for  mutual  aid 
against  the  Government  and  the  rival  house  of 
Argyle.  Within  that  combination  were  all  manner 
of  subordinate  jealousies  and  hatreds.  There  were 
Lowland  families  of  ancient  blood,  who  could  say  they 
were  as  good  as  the  proud  Gordons  themselves,  and 

^  Gorflon's  Scots  Affairs,  ii.  238. 


2,6  CHARLES    I. 

were  bitterly  jealous  of  each  other,  and  repudiative  of 
any  other  leader  but  the  great  marquess,  towards  whom 
they  took  the  position  rather  of  allies  acknowledging 
leadership  than  of  vassals  acknowledging  obedience. 
There  was  a  still  more  difficult  and  dangerous  element 
in  the  wild  Highland  tribes,  with  whom  Argyle  was 
trafficking  to  consolidate  an  influence  from  his  centre 
of  government  at  Inverary,  while  Huntly  was  doing 
the  same  from  Strathbogie.  It  was  the  rehearsal,  on  a 
small  scale,  but  in  a  far  more  tangible  shape,  of  that 
competition  between  the  Kussian  and  the  British  in- 
fluence which  politicians  have  professed  to  find  in 
the  territories  of  Central  Asia  between  Russia  and 
Hindustan.  Then  there  was  through  and  through  the 
whole  mountain  district  such  a  ramification  of  hered- 
itary quarrels  and  old  wrongs  standing  over  for  ven- 
geance, that  the  most  diligent  of  the  local  and  gene- 
alogical historians  become  confused  in  the  attempts  to 
trace  them.  Sometimes  the  feud  lay  between  a  clan 
in  Argyle's  interest  and  another  in  Huntly's,  and 
indeed  was  the  cause  of  their  thus  drawing  ofi"  into 
opposite  camps.  But  sometimes  the  two  enemies 
belonged  to  the  same  organisation,  which  their  bicker- 
ings continually  disturbed.  It  has  to  be  added  that 
all  were  inveterate  thieves,  and  when  temptation  fell 
in  their  way  did  not  always  distinguish  with  proper 
nicety  their  allies  from  their  enemies.^ 

1  Take,  for  instance,  some  of  the  elements  in  a  general  meeting  at 
Strathbogie  of  the  Lowlanders  of  Aberdeensliire  and  the  Highland  fol- 
lowing of  Huntly,  "the  most  part  of  Lochaber  only  excepted,  whom 
Argyle  either  tampered  with  or  forced  to  keep  home."  With  those  who 
came  "likewise  joined  James  Grant,  a  son  of  the  family  of  Carron  on 
Spey  side,  with  some  twenty  of  his  followers.  This  gentleman  had  been 
an  outlaw  several  years  before,  upon  a  private  account,  which  was,  that 
his  nephew,  John  Grant  of  Carron,  had  been  killed  by  a  near  neighbour 


CONFLICT    IN    THE    NORTH,    1639.  37 

Huntly's  second  son,  the  Lord  Aboyne,  acted  as 
head  of  the  house  and  of  the  confederation,  and  for 
his  assistance  was  invested  by  the  king's  writ  with 
his  father's  office  of  Lieutenant;  but  he  was  young,  and 
without  capacity  to  overcome  the  disorganising  influ- 
ences. The  king  gave  him  an  order  on  Hamilton  for 
two  thousand  of  the  men  on  board  his  vessels  ;  but  the 
order  was  of  no  avail — the  two  thousand  men  were  not 
to  be  had ;  and  it  was  said  that  Hamilton,  premon- 
ished  of  the  order,  had  sent  them  back  to  England. 
This  was  all  the  more  irritating,  that  the  kidnapping 
of  the  chief  had  created  deep  resentment ;  and  when 
it  was  known  that  Hamilton  Avas  in  the  Forth  with  a 

gentleman,  John  Grant  of  Ballandallach,  which,  slaughter  was  so  re- 
sented by  James  Grant,  that  for  to  prosecute  the  revenge  thereof  he 
wilfully  turned  outlaw,  and  had  been  prisoner  in  Edinburgh  Castle  not 
long  before,  and  had  made  his  escape  thence  ;  but  being  well  descended, 
and  cousin  to  Huntly  on  his  mother's  side,  he  was  protected  in  the  coun- 
try, all  being  his  friends  almost,  and  at  this  time  owned  by  Aboyne, 
although  the  Covenanters  took  occasion  thence  to  traduce  Aboyne  and 
that  party  for  taking  such  associates  by  the  hand. 

"  They  got  greater  ground  to  speak  against  bim  by  Aboyne  his  taking 
under  his  protection  one  John  Macgregor,  a  Rannoch  man  born  (known 
by  the  Irish  nickname  of  John  Dow  Geare),  and  a  notorious  robber;  yet 
was  he  and  his  followers,  about  twenty- four  arrant  thieves  and  cut- 
throats, taken  into  the  party.  The  addition  of  all  this,  as  it  contributed 
little  to  the  service,  so  it  gave  great  occasion  to  the  Covenanters  to  upbraid 
Aboyne,  who,  being  young  and  inexperienced,  was  persuaded  thereto  by 
such  as  either  looked  not  to  his  honour,  or  wilfully  strove  to  affront 
him.  And  the  wiser  and  most  sober  of  his  friends  were  very  ill  satisfied 
therewith,  and  so  much  the  rather  that  these  two  bandits,  though  both 
of  them  were  willing  to  serve  Aboyne,  yet  they  could  not  agree  together, 
but  wherever  they  met  they  were  like  to  fall  to  blows  with  their  com- 
panies, and  could  hardly  be  kept  asunder.  The  reason  whereof  was, 
because  James  Grant  had  killed  one  Patrick  Macgregor,  brother  to  the 
Laird  of  Macgregor,  who  had  undertaken  (by  warrant  from  the  Privy 
CouncU)  for  to  kill  or  retake  James  Grant.  This  slaughter  was  as  much 
resented  by  the  Clangregor  (according  to  their  Highland  form)  as  Car- 
ron's  slaughter  was  resented  by  James  Grant." — Gordon's  Scots  Affairs, 
ii.  257,  258. 


38  CHARLES    I. 

Jleet,  the  opportunity  seemed  to  have  come  for  stnkmg 
a  blow.^ 

An  incident  had  the  effect  of  drawing  these  Cava- 
liers into  common  action.  The  Covenanters  of  the 
north  resolved  to  assemble  in  force,  and  to  that  end 
they  again  selected  Turriff,  as  so  far  from  the  centre  of 
the  Gordon  power  that  it  was  neutralised  by  others. 
They  were  to  meet  on  the  13th  of  May,  and  to  remain 
as  a  centre  round  which  their  brethren  would  gather 
until  the  21st,  when  they  would  begin  to  act.  The 
Gordons,  assembled  in  some  numbers  in  Strathbogie, 
resolved  to  strike  at  once,  and  marched  to  Turriff  on 
the  same  evening.  The  Covenanters  were  numbered 
at  twelve  hundred — their  assailants  were  about  as 
many;  but  they  had  what  greatly  enhanced  their  effec- 
tive force — four  brass  field-pieces.  The  assailants  had 
three  commanders,  each  doing  his  best;  but  it  was 
their  chief  good  fortune  that  one  of  the  three,  Eobert 
Johnston  of  Crimond,  "had  been  brought  up  in  the 
war,  and  wanted  neither  gallantry  nor  resolution." 
They  showed  so  much  science,  that  instead  of  rushing 

^  This  is  a  rather  perplexing  story.  It  is  thus  tohi  hy  a  contem- 
porary not  prejudiced  against  the  Royalist  side,  and  with  good  means  of 
information  :  "  The  king  gave  a  new  warrant  and  patent  of  lieutenancy 
unto  Aboyne  in  place  of  his  father,  and  an  order  to  Hamilton,  who  was 
then  lying  in  the  Firth  of  Forth,  for  to  deliver  to  Aboyne  two  thousand 
of  the  land  soldiers,  whom  he  commanded  Hamilton  for  to  transport 
and  land  safe  in  Aberdeen.  But  Hamilton,  who  had  quick  intelligence 
of  all  that  passed  about  the  king's  hand,  being  advertised  hereof,  upon 
pretext  of  scarcity  of  victuals  and  sickness,  sends  back  these  two 
thousand  men  for  England  before  Aboyne  came  to  him  with  the  king's 
order  ;  so  that  when  Aboyne  came  to  the  Forth  to  Hamilton  he  was 
heartily  welcomed  and  feasted,  it's  true,  and  many  volleys  shot  off  at 
drinking  the  king's  health  ;  but  it  was  showed  him  that  the  men  were 
gone,  and  all  that  Aboyne  could  procure  was  four  brass  field-pieces  and 
some  tield-officers,  and  some  small  quantity  of  ammunition." — Gordon's 
Scots  Affairs,  ii.  265,  266. 


CONFLICT    IN    THE    NORTH,    1639.  39, 

on  the  village  by  the  east  end  of  its  one  street,  which 
was  nearest  to  them,  they  passed  deliberately  round 
to  the  west,  where  attack  was  easier  and  safer.  The 
Covenanters  were  surprised — some  in  bed,  others  en- 
joying themselves — and  even  the  delay  in  the  attack 
did  not  give  them  time  to  form.  Hence,  when  the 
street  was  swept  by  a  volley  of  musketry  and  a  few 
discharges  from  the  field-pieces,  they  dispersed  and 
left  the  town  in  the  hands  of  the  assailants.  It  was 
a  small  afi'air  —  two  men  on  the  assailed  and  one 
on  the  assailing  side  killed.  Yet  it  became  memor- 
able in  local  history  as  "  the  Trot  of  Turriff;  "  and  it 
had  some  claim  to  commemoration,  since  in  that  dis- 
tant village  the  first  blood  in  the  great  civil  war  was 
spilt.  It  was  remembered,  too,  in  the  north,  though 
the  many  turns  in  the  mighty  conflict  drove  it  out  of 
memory  elsewhere,  that  it  was  on  the  side  of  the  Cava- 
liers that  the  sword  was  first  drawn.  ^ 

Among  the  incidents  of  the  excitement  naturally 
raised  by  this  triumph,  one  was  in  itself  a  small  romance 
of  a  character  peculiarly  Highland.  Lord  Ludovic  or 
Lewis  Gordon,  the  third  son  of  Huntly,  was,  as  we  are 
told,  a  young  boy  at  school  in  Strathbogie  with  his 
grandmother.  2  On  hearing  of  the  Trot  of  Turriff  he 
"  broke  away  from  his  grandmother,  and  had  forsaken 
the  school  and  his  tutor,  leaping  over  the  walls  so  hazard- 
ously as  he  went  near  to  break  one  of  his  arms."  ^  He 
wandered  up  to  the  hills,  and  came  back  the  leader  of  a 
horde  of  Highlanders  from  Strathdee,  Braemar,  Strath- 

^  The  parson  of  Eothiemay  gives  a  miirate  account  of  tlie  stages  of  the 
short  conflict,  giving  individual  particulars,  down  to  the  minister  wan- 
dering distractedly  ahout  his  church  while  the  huUets  passed  through 
the  roof.     Scots  Affairs,  ii.  256-58.     See  also  Spalding's  Memorials,  i.  185. 

^  Gordon's  Scots  Affairs,  ii.  238.  ^  Ibid.,  261. 


40  CHARLES    I. 

earn,  and  Glenlivet.  They  had  cro^A'ded  rapturously 
round  the  princely  boy,  for  such  he  was  to  them.  The 
king's  Court  had  ever  been  too  far  off,  even  at  Holyrood, 
for  distinct  vision  by  the  Highlanders,  and  now  it  was 
farther  off  still.  To  this  portion  of  them  Strathbogie 
was  their  court.  It  was  noted  as  one  of  the  marvels 
of  his  escapade  that  the  boy  presented  himself  to  the 
mountaineers  "  in  Highland  garb."  This  is  perhaps 
the  first  occasion  on  which  any  person  of  high  rank  is 
mentioned  as  so  attired.  Thus  Lewis  Gordon  seems, 
unwittingly  perhaps,  to  have  solved  a  problem  practi- 
cally applied  in  later  times,  that  the  nearest  way  to  the 
heart  of  this  peculiar  people  is  to  attire  some  person 
of  illustrious  rank  in  their  peculiar  garb.  What  it  was 
at  that  time  we  do  not  well  know,  but  it  doubtless 
differed  widely  from  the  regulation  Highland  uniform 
of  the  present  day.  So,  in  Spalding's  words,  he  and 
his  followers,  "  upon  Friday,  the  7th  of  June,  marched 
in  brave  order,  about  a  thousand  men  on  horse  and 
foot,  well  armed,  brave  men,  with  captains,  command- 
ers,  and  leaders,  trumpets,  drums,  and  bagpipes." 

Thus  was  this  youth  the  commander  of  a  body  of 
troops  the  most  irregular  of  irregulars — a  post  requir- 
ing great  experience  and  peculiar  military  sagacity. 
How  it  fared  with  him  in  his  command  we  are  not 
precisely  told ;  but  we  know  that,  swollen  by  this  ac- 
cession, the  general  body  of  Cavaliers,  Highland  and 
Lowland,  dreamed  of  striking  some  great  blow  against 
the  Covenanters  southward  of  Aberdeenshire.  They 
marched  down  Deeside,  and  turned  to  the  right, 
menacing  the  Earl  Marischal's  great  fortress  of  Dun- 
nottar.  Prudence  jorevailed,  however,  and  abandon- 
ing an  enterprise  so  hoj)eless,  they  returned  to    the 


CONFLICT    IN    THE    NORTH,    1639.  4' 

Gordon  country  by  the  easiest  method — dispersing 
and  reuniting.  Thus  they  left  the  south  side  of  the 
Dee,  achieving  notliing  "  except  that  the  Highlanders 
plundered  the  country  coming  or  going — a  thing  very 
usual  with  them."  ^ 

In  the  north  "  the  Barons,"  as  their  leaders  were 
now  called,  reassembled  in  such  strength  as  to  threaten 
annihilation  to  the  Covenanting  party  beyond  the 
Spey,  and  it  was  deemed  necessary  that  Montrose 
should  return  to  punish  them.  As  he  passed  through 
Aberdeen  for  this  purpose,  his  army  performed  a  pecu- 
liar feat  long  remembered  in  the  district — the  execu- 
tion of  a  multitude  of  dogs  found  wandering  after  the 
practice  of  the  species  in  the  streets.  This  act  was 
not  without  its  provocative  cause.  At  their  former 
visit  to  the  town,  through  what  was  called  a  "  Avhimsy" 
of  their  commander,  each  Covenanting  soldier  was 
decorated  with  a  blue  ribbon.  It  had  taken  the 
fancy  of  the  Cavalier  damsels  of  Aberdeen  to  adorn 
their  dogs  with  a  precise  duplicate  of  this  device,  and 
so  distinguished  were  the  offending  animals  found  on 
the  return  of  the  great  leader  and  his  army.^ 

'  Gordon's  Scots  Affairs,  ii.  262. 

°  Spalding's  Memorials,  i.  195.  Blue  is  the  Presbyterian  colour  down 
to  this  day ;  and  if  Spalding's  story  be  true,  this  affair  was  the  cause  of  the 
adoption  :  "  Here  it  is  to  be  noted  that  few  or  none  of  this  whole  army 
wanted  ane  blue  ribbon  hung  about  his  craig  [neck]  down  under  his  left 
arm,  whilk  they  called  the  Covenanter^ s ribhon,hecau.se  the  Lord  Gordon 
and  some  other  of  the  marquis's  bairns  and  family  had  ane  ribbon,  when 
he  was  dwelling  in  the  town,  of  ane  red  flesh-colour,  which  they  wore  in 
their  hats,  and  called  it  iJie  royal  ribbon,  as  a  sign  of  their  love  and 
loyalty  to  the  king.  In  despite  or  derision  whereof  tliis  blue  ribbon 
was  worn,  and  called  the  Covenanter's  ribbon,  by  the  hail  soldiers  of  this 
army,  and  would  not  hear  of  the  royal  ribbon — such  was  their  pride  and 
malice."— P.  154. 

The  parson  of  Rothiemay  says  of  the  Covenanting  army  which  crossed 


42  CHARLES    I. 

]\lontrose  marched  westward  towards  the  Gordon 
country.  The  parson  of  Eothiemay  notes  that  he 
stabled  his  troop-horses  in  the  church  of  Udny,  "  a 
practice  then  unusual,  though  afterwards  it  grew  to 
be  more  in  fashion  to  turn  churches  to  stables."  ^ 

When  he  reached  the  ground  on  which  he  had  in- 
tended to  fight  it  out  with  the  Barons  he  could  not 
find  his  enemy.  The  Highlanders,  with  their  usual 
nimbleness,  had  dived  into  their  mountain  recesses,  to 
come  forth  again  instantly  when  wanted.  The  leaders, 
with  small  bodies  of  picked  men,  had  each  shut  him- 
self up  in  his  own  strong  house  or  castle.  Montrose 
now  formed  the  project  of  destroying  these  strong- 
holds one  by  one.  He  began  with  the  Tower  of 
Gight.  It  was  defended  by  Johnston,  the  victor  at 
Turriff,  one  of  the  officers  trained  in  the  foreign  wars, 
and  threatened  a  tough  resistance.  Montrose  had  no 
siege-train,  and  his  small  field-pieces  had  little  effect 
on  the  thick  stone  walls.  He  set  himself  down,  how- 
ever, for  a^^steady  siege,  in  which  he  worked  for  two 
days,  when,  suddenly  changing  his  purpose,  he  broke 
up  his  camp,  and  retreated  to  Edinburgh  as  rapidly  as 
if  an  enemy  had  been  at  his  heels. 

This  was  a  mistake  caused  by  false  information. 
He    learned    that    Aboyne,  with   his    commission   as 

the  Tweed  next  year  :  "  And  now  the  blue  ribbons  and  blue  caps  had 
opened  the  door  in  the  north  of  England,  and  the  Covenant  colours 
came  triumphantly  displayed  to  Newcastle.  For  it  is  to  be  known  that, 
as  the  last  year,  so  in  this  new  expedition,  the  Scottish  officers  mostly 
wore  blue  bonnets  out  of  contempt  of  the  English,  who  scoffingly  called 
them  '  Blue-caps.'  And  they  carried  blue  ribbons  either  in  their  caps  or 
hung  about  them,  and  their  spanners  thereto  appended  like  an  order 
of  knighthood,  the  Royalists  wearing  red  ribbons  in  opposition  of  that 
colour." — Gordon's  Scots  Affairs,  ii.  260. 
'  Gordon's  Scots  Affairs,  ii.  264. 


CONFLICT    IN    THE    NORTH,    1639.  43 

Lieutenant,  had  brought  a  fleet  into  the  roadstead  of 
Aberdeen  having  a  land-force  on  board.  He  knew 
that  Aboyne  had  got  an  order  from  the  king  for  two 
thousand  men,  but  did  not  know  that  the  order  had 
been  ineffectuaL^  As  to  Aboyne's  fleet,  it  was  repre- 
sented by  a  sorry  collier-ship  from  the  Tyne  and  two 
pinnaces.  They  carried  the  contribution  supplied  by 
Hamilton  under  the  king's  order,  and  landed  some 
brass  cannon  and  other  munitions,  and  a  few  trained 
oflicers,  the  most  important  among  whom  was  Crowner 
or  Colonel  Griin,  a  native  of  Caithness,  who  had  served 
abroad.^ 

The  retreat  of  Montrose  did  far  more  for  the  cause 
of  the  northern  Cavaliers  than  the  assistance  brought 
by  Aboyne.  The  dispersed  army  of  the  Barons  again 
gathered  round  Strathbogie,  and  Aboyne  was  able  to 
march  on  Aberdeen  with  some  two  thousand  footmen 
and  fi-ve  hundred  horse.  He  had  a  copy  of  the  Eng- 
lish oath  of  allegiance  to  the  king  ;  this  he  proclaimed 
on  his  way,  and  tendered  for  signature  as  an  anti- 
Covenant  declaration.  Aberdeen  was  now  again  at 
the  command  of  the  Cavaliers,  and  those  who  had 
taken  the  Covenant,  and  continued  to  adhere  to  it,  had 
to  disappear.  A  curious  and  expressive  chapter  of 
local  history  might  be  filled  by  a  description  of  the 
revolutions  of  "  the  gude  toun  "  alternately  under  the 

^  See  above,  p.  37. 

^  Gun's  career  was  a  fair  type  of  the  fortunes  of  the  more  successful 
of  the  Scots  officers  who  served  abroad.  According  to  tlie  historian  of 
the  house  of  Sutherland,  who  says  tliat  Gun  was  born  in  that  county, 
he  returned  to  Germany,  became  a  major-general  in  the  imperial  army 
and  a  baron  of  the  empire,  marrying  "  a  rich  and  noble  lady  Ijeside  the 
imperial  city  of  Ulm,  upon  the  Danube"  (Note,  Gordon's  Scots  Affairs, 
ii.  266).  It  will  be  seen  that  he  was  not  likely  to  have  obtained  high 
preferment  at  home. 


44  CHARLES    I. 

military. domination  of  either  party.  The  poor  town- 
clerk  laments  over  this  hard  fate  as  exceptional  to  the 
peace  enjoyed  by  the  other  towns:  "No  doubt  but 
this  vexation  was  grievous  to  Aberdeen  to  be  over- 
thrown by  ilk  party  who  by  might  and  strength  could 
be  master  of  the  fields,  whereas  all  the  other  burghs 
within  Scotland  lived  first  and  last  at  great  rest  and 
quietness."-^ 

As  we  shall  presently  see,  the  Tables — now  a  strong 
settled  central  government — were  solemnly  preparing 
to  measure  swords  with  England,  or  with  so  much  of 
England  as  the  king  could  command.  AVith  all  the 
rest  of  Scotland  fairly  in  hand,  and  contributing  their 
due  proportion  of  taxes  and  levies  for  the  great  national 
war,  it  w^as  provoking  to  find  so  tough  an  obstacle  in 
one  corner  of  the  country.  Critical  as  the  position 
Avas  of  the  army  in  the  south,  it  was  necessary,  before 
the  situation  became  still  more  critical,  to  send  a  force 
sufficient  to  crush  an  opposition  which,  in  the  general 
unanimity  in  which  their  policy  prevailed  elsewhere, 
had  naturally  taught  them  to  consider  the  Cavahers 
of  the  north  as  traitors  to  their  country's  cause. 

The  knowledge  which  experience  had  given  Mon- 
trose of  the  duty  to  be  done  marked  him  as  the  proper 
commander  of  the  expedition,  and  he  marched  north- 
wards in  the  middle  of  June.  It  happened  that  his 
enemies  came  so  far  to  meet  him.  Having  an  officer 
of  experience  like  Gun  to  command  them,  the  Cav- 
aliers in  Aberdeen  took  the  strong  step  of  a  march 
southwards,  that,  picking  up  adherents  as  they  went, 
they  might  come  upon  the  rear  of  the  Covenanting 
force  in  the  south,  while  the  English  Eoyalist  army 

'   Memorials,  i.  186. 


CONFLICT    IN    THE    NORTH,    1639.  45 

was  dealing  with  tliem  in  front.  The  ordnance, 
powder,  and  heavy  baggage  for  this  expedition  were  to 
be  conveyed  along  the  coast  in  the  three  ships  brought 
by  Aboyne ;  but  in  a  storm  off  shore  these  drifted  out 
to  sea,  and  were  heard  of  no  more.  When  the  Cava- 
liers had  reached  the  Castle  of  Muchalls,  five  miles  to 
the  north  of  Stonehaven,  Montrose  was  two  miles  on 
the  other  side,  sheltered  by  Dunnottar,  the  great  for- 
tress of  his  ally  the  Earl  Marischal.  All  seemed  ready 
for  a  critical  battle ;  and  that  something  almost  worse 
than  a  defeat  befell  the  Cavaliers  was  attributed  to  the 
treachery  of  Gun,  their  leader.  Their  array  is  thus 
told  :  "  The  van  was  given  to  a  troop  of  volunteer 
gentlemen  cuiraciers,  about  one  hundred  in  number, 
who  for  the  colours  carried  a  handkerchief  upon  a 
lance.  These  wanted  nothing  to  have  made  them 
serviceable  but  some  oflficer  to  lead  them  who  had 
had  more  honesty  than  Colonel  Gunne.  The  citizens 
of  Aberdeen  got  the  first  place  of  all  the  foot,  who 
had  there  a  foot  regiment  of  gallant  firemen,  well 
appointed,  to  the  number  of  about  four  hundred. 
The  Highlanders  had  the  rear,  and  other  troops  of 
horses  were  put  to  the  wings  of  the  foot."^ 

Either  through  accident  or  false  strategy  it  befell 
that  these  Highlanders  did  the  work  of  the  enemy. 
The  cannon — "  the  musket's  mother,"  as  they  then 
called  it — was  an  arm  of  war  which  they  would  not 
meet.  The  near  roar  of  artillery  at  once  dispersed 
them.  It  was  not  that  they  were  influenced  so  much 
by  ordinary  fear,  as  by  a  superstition  that  the  dreadful 
sound  warned  them  of  a  force  which  man  must  not 
dare  to  resist.      Montrose  Avas  strong  in  ordnance, 

1  Gordon's  Scots  Affairs,  ii.  271. 


46  CHARLES   I. 

having  been  supplied  from  Dunnottar.  A  party  of  the 
Covenanters  advanced  beyond  their  lines  as  if  to  at- 
tack the  Cavaliers,  then  suddenly  turned,  and  rapidly 
retreated  as  if  in  flight.  They  were  followed,  and 
thus  the  Highlanders  were  brought  in  front  of  a 
cannonade,  with  the  natural  result.  While  yet  un- 
touched themselves  they  beheld  some  casualties  from 
the  cannonade  among  their  allies.  One  gun  carried  a 
twenty-pound  ball,  "Avhich  so  affrighted  the  High- 
landers, who  stood  farthest  off,  that,  without  expecting 
any  word  of  command,  they  ran  off  all  in  a  confusion, 
never  looking  behind  them  till  they  were  got  into  a 
moss  or  fast  ground  near  half  a  mile  distant  from  the 
Hill  of  Meager."  The  rest  of  the  force  became  un- 
steady and  disappeared.  It  was  not  a  retreat,  for  no 
order  was  kept ;  nor  a  flight,  for  there  was  no  pursuit ; 
but  a  dispersal,  each  seeking  his  own  home.  And  so 
"  this,"  says  the  historian  of  the  affair,  "  is  that  action 
known  so  well  afterwards  under  the  name  of  the  Eaid 
of  Stonehive,  so  ridiculously  and  grossly  managed 
that  in  all  the  war  nothing  can  be  recounted  like  it."  ^ 
The  sole  hope  for  the  Cavalier  party  in  Aberdeen 
now  lay  in  holding  the  bridge  over  the  Dee — a  work 
of  seven  arches,  narrow  and  crooked,  as  bridges  were 
in  that  day.  To  this  spot  such  of  the  scattered  force 
as  could  again  be  gathered  was  brought.  What  de- 
fence-works of  turf  and  stone  the  short  time  permitted 
were  run  up  at  the  south  end.  They  were  so  strong 
and  well  served  that  for  a  whole  day  the  cannon  as- 
sailed them,  and  swept  the  bridge  in  vain.  Next  day 
Montrose  tried  a  strategy  of  so  simple  and  transparent 
a  kind,  that  its  success,  in  the  face  of  trained  soldiers, 

^  Gordon's  Scots  Affairs,  ii.  275. 


CONFLICT    IN    THE    NORTH,    1639.  47 

was  attributed  to  the  treachery  of  the  Cavalier  com- 
mander. The  Covenanting  army  appeared  to  be 
ascending  the  river  to  cross  by  a  neighbouring  ford. 
The  other  party  went  to  defend  the  ford.  There  were 
but  fifty  left  at  the  bridge,  and  the  barriers  were 
forced  without  resistance.  So  it  was  in  this  northern 
section  of  the  contest  that  the  second  actual  conflict 
as  well  as  the  first  was  fought.  The  afi"air  of  the 
Bridge  of  Dee  made  a  nearer  approach  to  the  dignity 
of  a  battle  than  the  Trot  of  Turrifi";  and  its  results 
were  far  more  eminent,  since  they  decided  the  fate 
not  of  a  mere  village,  but  of  an  important  town,  the 
capital  of  a  district.  Again  the  Covenanters  were 
supreme  in  Aberdeen.  Some  conspicuous  Malignants 
were  imprisoned,  others  dispersed  or  hid  themselves. 
There  was  momentous  consultation  about  the  fate  of 
the  city — whether  it  should  be  rased  to  the  ground, 
and  if  not,  what  penalty  should  be  exacted  from  it. 
But  an  event  intercepted  the  decision  of  these  mo- 
mentous questions.  It  was  on  the  19th  of  June  1639 
that  the  bridge  was  carried.  On  the  20th,  "whilst 
the  poor  city  was  fearing  the  worst,  that  very  night 
came  there  a  pinnace  from  Berwick,  with  letters  both 
from  the  king  and  chief  of  the  Covenanters,  ordering 
all  acts  of  hostility  to  cease  upon  both  sides,  and 
intimating  that  the  treaty  was  closed ;  so  that  to- 
morrow all  the  prisoners  were  released,  the  peace 
proclaimed,  and  every  man  began  to  come  back  to 
Aberdeen  to  their  houses.  Yet  could  not  Montrose's 
soldiers  be  gotten  away  out  of  the  town  of  Aberdeen 
till  the  town  paid  five  thousand  merks  Scots  for  a 
taxation  to  them,  so  ill  were  they  satisfied  both  with 
the  want  of  the  plunder  of  Aberdeen  and  the  hasty 


48  CHARLES    I. 

news  of  tbe  peace,  which  Montrose  suspected  would 
come  before  he  entered  the  town."  ^ 

It  has  been  thought  best  to  trace  up  to  a  temporary 
conclusion  this  episode  in  the  great  contest,  to  prevent 
confusion  and  clear  all  out  of  the  way  of  the  account 
of  the  far  more  momentous,  though  less  picturesque 
and  animated,  succession  of  events  through  which  the 
main  quarrel  took  its  course. 

1  Gordon's  Scots  Affairs,  ii.  281,  282. 


CHAPTER    LXXII. 

HAMILTON    AND    LAUD THE    KING'S    PREPARATIONS — MOVEMENTS 

IN     SCOTLAND THE     SEIZURE     OF     EDINBURGH     CASTLE     AND 

OTHER  FORTRESSES ROYALIST  FLEET  IN  THE  FORTH ALEX- 
ANDER LESLIE  GATHERS  A  COVENANTING  ARMY COMPOSI- 
TION     OF      THE      ARMY  THE      LOWLAND       AGRICULTURISTS  

ARGYLE'S      HIGHLANDERS THE      CAMP      ON      DUNSE      LAW THE 

king's  army  ON  THE  OTHER  SIDE HINTS  FOR  A  SUPPLICA- 
TION  THE    PLAN    TRIED THE    KING's     RECEPTION     OF     IT 

PACIFICATION     OF     BERWICK SUSPICIONS A    SUPPLEMENTAL 

GENERAL     ASSEMBLY DEMOLITION    OF    EPISCOPACY     REPEATED 

—THE     king's     LARGE     DECLARATION A      PARLIAMENT THE 

CONSTITUTION       OF       THE       ESTATES  DEALINGS        WITH       THE 

FRENCH  COURT — THE  QUARREL  RENEWING — STATE  OF  FEEL- 
ING    IN     ENGLAND  AN     ENGLISH     ARMY     MARCHING     TO     THE 

NORTH  —  Leslie's   army   reconstructed  —  montrose    and 

THE      passage      of      THE      TWEED  • CROSSING     THE     TYNE      AT 

NEWBURN,    AND    DEFEAT     OF     THE     KING'S    ARMY OCCUPATION 

OF    NEWCASTLE TREATY    OF    RIPON. 

Hamilton's  conduct  received  the  approval  of  Laud, 
and  therefore  of  the  king ;  and  he  went  to  Court  to 
hold  consultations,  having  first  duly  consulted  Laud 
on  the  propriety  of  such  a  step.  So  far  as  the  voices 
of  that  age  come  down  to  the  present,  the  loudest  in 
denunciation  and  the  firmest  in  the  demand  of  strong 
measures  is  still  the  voice  of  Laud.  He  chafed  with 
VOL.  vn.  D 


50  CHARLES    1. 

fierce  impatience  at  the  slowness  and  insufiicieney  of 
the  preparations  for  punishment.  "  I  am  as  sorry," 
he  says,  "  as  your  grace  can  be,  that  the  king's  pre- 
parations can  make  no  more  haste.  I  hope  you  think 
— for  truth  it  is — I  have  called  upon  his  majesty,  and 
by  his  command  upon  some  others,  to  hasten  all  that 
may  be,  and  more  than  this  I  cannot  do."  And  a  few 
days  later — on  the  7th  of  December  :  "  In  tender  care 
of  his  majesty's  both  safety  and  honour,  I  have  done, 
and  do  daily  call  upon  him  for  his  preparations.  He 
protests  he  makes  all  the  haste  he  can,  and  I  believe 
him ;  but  the  jealousies  of  giving  the  Covenanters 
umbrage  too  soon  have  made  the  preparations  here  so 
late.  I  do  all  I  can  here  with  trouble  and  sorrow 
enough."  ^ 

The  preparations  were  very  formidable  in  design  : 
"  His  majesty  was  to  raise  an  army  of  thirty  thousand 
horse  and  foot,  and  to  lead  them  in  person  towards 
Scotland  :  he  was  to  ^w^rite  to  all  the  nobility  of  Eng- 
land to  wait  upon  him  to  the  campaign  with  their  at- 
tendants, who  should  be  maintained  by  his  majesty's 
pay :  he  was  to  put  good  garrisons  in  Berwick  and 
Carlisle — two  thousand  in  the  former  and  five  hun- 
dred in  the  latter  :  he  was  at  the  same  time  to  send 
a  fleet  to  ply  from  the  Firth  northward  for  stopping 
of  trade,  and  making  a  great  diversion  for  guarding 
the  coast :  he  was  also  to  send  an  army  of  five  thou- 
sand men  under  the  marquis  his  command  to  land  in 
the  north  and  join  with  Huntly's  forces — all  which 
should  be  under  his  command,  he  retaining  still  the 
character  of  commissioner,  with  the  addition  of  gen- 
eral of  the  forces  in  Scotland  ;  and  with  these  he  was 

'  Burnet's  Memoirs  of  Haiiiiltnii    111. 


THE    king's    preparations,    1639.  51 

first  to  make  the  uorth  sure,  and  then  to  move  south- 
ward, which  might  both  make  another  great  diversion, 
and  encourage  such  as  wished  well  to  his  majesty's 
service,  who  were  the  greater  number  in  those  parts. 
Next,  the  Earl  of  Antrim  was  to  land  in  Argyleshire, 
upon  his  pretensions  to  Kintyre  and  the  old  feuds 
betwixt  the  Macdonalds  and  Campbells  ;  and  he  pro- 
mised to  bring  with  him  ten  or  twelve  thousand  men. 
And  last  of  all,  the  Earl  of  Strafford  was  to  draw  to- 
gether such  forces  as  could  be  levied  and  spared  out 
of  Ireland,  and  come  with  another  fleet  into  Dum- 
briton  Firth  ;  and  for  his  encouragement  the  marquis 
desired  him  to  touch  at  Arran  (that  being  the  only 
place  of  his  interest  which  he  could  offer  unto  his 
majesty),  and  he  would  be  sure  of  all  his  men  there 
(such  naked  rogues  as  they  were  is  his  own  phrase) ; 
besides,  there  were  store  of  cows  in  that  island  for  the 
provision  of  the  fleet,  which  he  appointed  should  not 
be  spared."^ 

But  poverty  stood  in  the  way  of  this,  as  of  many 
another  brilliant  project.  Though  the  revenvie  from 
ship-money  supported  the  Court  in  time  of  tranquillity, 
there  was  so  little  for  any  exigency  that  the  expense  of 
entertaining  the  queen's  mother  becomingly  crippled 
the  treasury.  As  a  type  of  the  condition  of  the  de- 
partments connected  with  war  and  the  national  de- 
fence, we  may  take  the  facts  which  Sir  John  Heydon, 
Lieutenant-General  of  the  Ordnance,  gave  as  his  ex- 
cuse for  not  rendering  certain  returns  required  by  the 
master-general :  "  The  surveyor  is  sick ;  the  clerk  of 
the  ordnance  restrained  of  his  liberty,  and  one  of  his 
clerks  absent ;  the  clerk  of  the  deliveries  is  out  of 

1  Burnet's  Memoirs,  113. 


52  CHARLES    I. 

town,  and  his  clerk  absent ;  the  master-gunner  dead, 
the  yeomen  of  the  ordnance  never  present,  nor  any  of 
the  gunner  attendants."  ^ 

So  wretchedly  were  the  royal  fortresses  in  Scotland 
apparelled  and  manned,  that  the  Tables  resolved  to 
take  them  at  one  sweep  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. The  project  was  discussed  as  a  matter  of 
policy  rather  than  ability,  the  question  being,  whether 
it  was  just  and  prudent  to  take  the  king's  strong 
places  out  of  the  hands  of  his  appointed  servants,  and 
themselves  hold  them  in  his  name.  On  the  23d  of 
March,  Leslie,  at  the  head  of  a  strong  party,  demanded 
possession  of  Edinburgh  Castle.  It  was  refused.  Con- 
trary to  all  proper  precaution,  he  was  allowed  to  put 
his  demand  at  the  outer  gate ;  and  when  this  was 
closed  on  him,  like  a  house  -  door  on  an  unwelcome 
visitor,  he  took  the  opportunity  to  screw  a  petard  on 
it.  This  explosive  engine  had,  of  course,  been  pre- 
pared with  the  latest  improvements  known  in  the 
great  war ;  and  the  effects  of  its  explosion  were  so 
astounding  that  the  garrison  tacitly  j^ermitted  the 
assailants  to  take  possession  of  the  fortress.  "  Dum- 
barton," says  Baillie,  "  was  a  strength  that  no  force 
ever  had  won,  and  what  stratagem  to  use  we  knew 
not,  the  captain  being  so  vigilant  a  gentleman,  and 
having  provided  it  so  well  with  men,  munition,  and 
victuals ;  yet  God  put  it  in  our  hands  most  easily."  ^ 
It  happened  that  this  "  vigilant  gentleman  "  attended 
church  on  Sunday  with  so  many  of  the  garrison  that 
when  they  were  seized  on  their  way  back  the  place 
was  defenceless.     Dalkeith  was   easily  taken  by  as- 

'  Calendar  of  State  Papca-s  (Domestic),  1637-.38,  preface,  xiii. 
-  Letters,  i.  193. 


THE    king's    preparations,    1639.  53 

sault.  AVitliin  it  were  found  the  warlike  stores  about 
which  there  had  been  so  much  discussion.  Something- 
still  more  interesting  was  found  there, — the  Honours 
of  the  realm — the  crown,  sceptre,  and  sword.  These 
were  conveyed  with  reverential  pomp  to  Edinburgh 
Castle.  Stirling  Castle  did  not  require  to  be  assailed 
— it  was  in  the  hands  of  a  sure  friend,  the  Earl  of 
Mar.  All  this  was  accomplished  without  the  shedding 
of  a  drop  of  blood,  and  was  treated  as  a  mere  change 
of  officers — an  administrative  reform.  Some  strong- 
places,  in  the  hands  of  powerful  subjects,  such  as 
Hamilton  Palace  and  Douglas  Castle,  were  in  the 
same  manner  put  into  safe  keeping.  The  Tables  cast 
longing  eyes  on  the  fortress  of  Caerlaverock,  already 
twice  memorable  in  our  History.  They  let  it  alone,  for 
a  reason  which  shows  how  much  prudence  was  allied 
to  their  strength.  As  a  Border  fortress  its  posses- 
sion was  of  moment.  But  it  might  have  been  assisted 
from  the  garrison  of  Carlisle,  and  it  was  infinitely 
desirable  to  avoid  any  conflict  with  English  troops. 
On  the  king's  side  the  Commission  of  Array  was 
issued  requiring  the  feudal  force  of  England  to  assem- 
ble at  York.  Hamilton  was  to  take  a  fleet  transport- 
ins;  land-forces  into  the  Firth  of  Forth.  "  He  desired 
the  king  might  choose  a  fitter  person  for  the  naval 
forces,  since  he  was  altogether  unacquainted  with  sea 
affairs,  and  not  fit  for  such  an  important  service.  But 
his  majesty,  looking  upon  this  as  an  effect  of  his 
modesty,  gave  no  hearing  to  it,  telling  him  that  as  for 
affairs  purely  naval,  Sir  John  Pennington,  the  vice- 
admiral,  should  go  with  him,  and  would  abundantly 
supply  his  defects  in  that."  ^ 

1  Burnet's  Memoirs,  114. 


54  CHARLES    I. 

Such  was  the  practice  of  the  day.  It  took  many 
years'  experience  and  many  disasters  to  prove  that 
skill  and  science  were  necessary  for  sea  commands, 
and  that  birth  and  rank  could  not  effect  the  handling 
of  vessels  without  these  qualities. 

On  the  1st  of  May  Hamilton  and  his  fleet  entered 
the  Firth  of  Forth.  He  had  nineteen  vessels,  and  the 
rumour  spread  that  he  brought  five  thousand  men  in 
them.  We  are  told  that  these  were  in  good  condition, 
"  well  clothed  and  well  armed,  but  so  little  exercised 
that  of  the  five  thousand  there  were  not  two  hundred 
who  could  fire  a  musket."  ^  This  was,  it  appears, 
because  the  trained  men  were  kept  at  home  for  the 
defence  of  their  own  counties  in  case  of  need.  Whether 
there  actually  were  five  thousand  men  in  the  fleet  may 
be  doubted.  Though  there  were  five  regiments,  we 
have  seen  already  how,  when  two  thousand  men  were 
ordered  from  them  for  service,  they  were  not  to  be 
found.  Two  of  these  regiments  were,  as  we  have 
seen,  sent  to  join  the  king's  army  in  the  north  of  Eng- 
land. The  whole  affair  partook  of  a  pretence  organised, 
after  the  fashion  of  Chinese  warfare,  to  frighten  the 
country.  But  the  alarm  inspired  by  it  took  the  wrong 
direction.  It  communicated  to  the  preparations  of  the 
Tables  an  impulsive  rapidity.  They  were  soon  in  pos- 
session of  thirty  thousand  stand  of  arms.  They  had 
twenty  thousand  men  embodied,  and  in  the  hands  of  an 
organisation  for  diligently  drilling  and  training  them. 
Prompt  measures  were  taken  for  the  defence  of  the  coast. 
Leith  was  strongly  fortified.  Round  the  coast  of  Fife 
there  was  at  that  time  a  string  of  seaport  towns  which 
conducted  a  lucrative  commerce.     They  had  an  abun- 

'  Bmnet's  Memoirs,  120. 


t> 


THE    SCOTS     PREPARATION,    1639.  55 

daut  shipping,  and,  like  all  enterprisiDg  maritime  com- 
munities of  that  age,  transacted  in  the  Spanish  main 
and  other  distant  seas  a  kind  of  business  that  ac- 
customed them  to  the  use  of  arms.  These  towns 
were  so  affluent  that  King  James  compared  the  bleak 
county  of  Fife  to  a  frieze  cloak  with  a  trimming  of 
gold-lace.  All  these  towns  fortified  themselves,  and 
there  was  no  spot  where  a  party  could  be  landed 
from  the  fleet  without  a  struggle. 

The  Tables  had  again  been  supplicating  in  the  old 
fashion,  vindication  of  the  past  and  determination  to 
go  on  for  the  future  in  the  same  course,  being  set  forth 
with  all  deep  humility.  The  king  answered  them  in 
a  denunciatory  proclamation  intrusted  to  Hamilton. 
Times  were  changed,  however,  and  it  was  no  longer 
that  the  king's  lieutenant  played  a  game  at  hide-and- 
seek  with  those  who  were  to  neutralise  his  Proclama- 
tion by  a  Protestation.  The  authorities  in  Edinburgh 
would  neither  announce  the  proclamation  nor  permit 
it  to  be  announced.  They  sent  a  remonstrance  to 
Hamilton,  with  the  old  professions  of  loyalty  and 
humility,  but  pointing  out  to  him  that  this  document 
which  comes  from  abroad,  and  has  no  sanction  from 
the  local  government  of  Scotland,  "  carries  a  denunci- 
ation of  the  high  crime  of  treason  against  all  such  as 
do  not  accept  the  offer  therein  contained."  "Where- 
as your  grace  knows  well  that  l)y  the  laws  of  this 
kingdom,  treason  and  tlie  forfeiture  of  the  lands,  life, 
and  estate  of  the  meanest  subject  within  the  same 
cannot  be  declared  but  either  in  Parliament  or  in 
a  supreme  justice  court,  after  citation  and  lawful 
probation ;  how  much  less  of  the  whole  j^eers  and 
body  of  the  kingdom,  without  either  court,  proof,  <jr 


S6  CHARLES    I. 

trial."  They  are  convinced  tliat  it  is  not  the  doing  of 
their  gracious  king,  but  "a  deep  plot  contrived  by 
the  policy  of  the  devilish  malice  of  the  known  and 
cursed  enemies  of  this  Kirk  and  State."  ^ 

On  the  20tli  of  May  the  Scots  army  was  paraded 
on  the  links  of  Leitli  by  their  commander-in-chief, 
Leslie.  The  articles  of  war  under  which  they  took 
themselves  bound  to  serve  were  read  to  them.  Next 
day  the  march  towards  the  English  border  began. 
They  were  accompanied  by  several  clergymen,  who 
filled  the  regimental  chaplain  department  to  super- 
fluity. Fortunately  for  the  entertainment  and  in- 
struction of  later  times,  Baillie  was  among  them,  and 
left  some  picturesque  notices  of  his  experience.  He 
was  chaplain  to  the  contingent  from  Ayrshire,  where 
he  ministered,  and  he  says  :  "  I  furnished  to  half-a- 
dozen  of  good  fellows  muskets  and  pikes,  and  to  my 
boy  a  broadsword.  I  carried  myself,  as  the  fashion 
was,  a  sword  and  a  couple  of  Dutch  pistols  at  my 
saddle ;  but  I  promise  for  the  offence  of  no  man 
except  a  robber  on  the  way,  for  it  was  our  part  alone 
to  pray  and  preach  for  the  encouragement  of  our 
countrymen."^  It  may  be  questioned  if  any  army 
since  the  time  of  chivalry  had  in  it  so  much  of  the 
aristocratic  element  as  this  which  went  to  make  war 
upon  the  sovereign.  Baillie  says:  " Our  crouners  [that 
is,  colonels],  for  the  most  part,  were  noblemen.  Rothes, 
Lindsay,  Sinclair,  had  among  them  two  fall  regiments, 
at  least,  from  Fife.  Balcarras,  a  horse  troop  ;  Loudon, 
]\Iontgomcry,  Erskine,  Boyd,  Fleming,  Kirkcudbright, 
Tester,  Dalhousie,  Eglinton,  and  others,  either  with 
whole  or  half  regiments.      JMontrose's   regiment  was 

^  Burnet's  Memoirs.  "  Letters,  &c.,  i.  211. 


THE    MARCH    TO    THE    BORDER,    1639.  57 

above  fifteen  himdi-ed  men."^  His  clerical  mind 
was  surprised  that  so  large  a  representative  force  of 
the  territorial  aristocracy  of  Scotland  should  defer  to 
the  soldier  of  fortune  who  commanded  in  chief :  "  We 
were  feared  that  emulation  among  our  nobles  might 
have  done  harm  Avhen  they  should  be  met  in  the 
fields  ;  but  such  was  the  wisdom  and  authority  of  that 
old,  little,  crooked  soldier,  that  all  with  ane  incredible 
submission  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  gave  over 
themselves  to  be  guided  by  him,  as  if  he  had  been 
great  Solomon."  '^ 

There  was  a  strouo-  element  of  religious  enthusiasm 

CD  O 

in  that  host,  yet  perhaps  it  was  not  quite  so  strong  as 
some  have  believed  it  was.  Through  the  wliole  strug- 
gle the  working  of  the  religious  element  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  loudest  speakers,  while  those  whose  im- 
pulses were  of  a  secular  character  were  more  reserved 
in  their  communications.  What  Baillie  says  of  his 
own  entranced  inner  feelings  may  have  applied  to  his 

1  Lettere,  &c.,  i.  211. 

-  Ibid.,  213,  214.  OLl  Leslie  was  popular  in  England.  The  author 
possesses  a  slim  quarto  pamphlet  with  the  title,  "  General  Lesley's 
Speech  in  the  Parliament  of  Scotland,  the  25th  of  October  1641,  in 
Defence  of  himself  upon  certain  Slanders  which  are  reported  of  liim — 
wherein  he  expresseth  his  Affection  to  the  King  and  Kingdom  of  Eng- 
land. Also  concerning  the  Traytors  of  Scotland  which  did  lay  a  Plot  to 
take  away  his  Life.  Printed  at  London  for  T.  B.,  1641."  There  is  a  wood- 
cut on  the  title-page  representing  the  general,  in  much  more  than  com- 
plete armour,  careering  away  on  a  thundering  war-steed.  The  speech 
is  in  keeping  with  this — a  rodomontade  of  turgid  English  sprinkled 
with  Latin.  It  must  have  taken  skill  to  make  anything  so  absolutely 
at  odds  with  the  tough  old  practical  Scots  soldier,  who  had  spent  his 
life  abroad,  and  had  a  dubious  reputation  as  to  reading  and  writing.  The 
interest  in  the  existence  of  such  a  document  is  in  the  fact  that  it  should 
have  been  fabricated  for  the  English.  On  turning  to  the  Lord  Lyon's 
diary  of  the  session  of  1641,  to  find  whether  Leslie  did  address  the 
House  on  the  2.5th  of  October  1641,  the  response  is  :  "25th  October — 
Mondav:  no  meeting  of  Parliament."— Balfour,  iii.  119. 


58  CHARLES    I. 

brother  clergy  and  a  few  others.  The  soldiers  from 
the  Swedish  camp  had  been  taught  to  submit  to  reli- 
gious ordinances  as  part  of  the  soldier's  discipline. 
The  same  practice  will  in  some  measure  account  for  the 
sound  of  psalm-singing  and  praise  which  fed  the  ears  of 
Baillie  with  spiritual  luxuries.  That  there  was  some- 
what of  swearing  and  brawling,  and  the  other  rough 
usages  of  the  camp,  was  also  an  element  which  he 
was  too  honest  to  conceal.^  Argyle  was  there  with 
a  few  of  his  Highlanders.  The  others  did  not  relish 
their  fellowship,  and  it  was  prudently  settled  that  the 
main  body  should  remain  in  Scotland  in  the  rear  of 
the  march,  "to  be  a  terror  to  our  neutralists  or  masked 
friends,  to  make  all  without  din  march  forward,  lest 
his  uncanny  trewsmen  should  light  on  to  call  him  up 
in  their  rear."  Argyle's  little  group  fox'med  an  object 
of  wonder,  like  the  French  Mamelukes,  or  the  other 
strange  allies  that  armies  emj^loyed  on  distant  Oriental 
warfare  bring  home  Avith  them  for  ornament  rather 
than  use.  They  came  from  districts  as  utterly  un- 
known in  England  as  the  interior  of  Africa,  and  their 

1  The  short  passage  on  which  tlie  text  is  a  commentary  is  singuLirly 
interesting :  "  Ha<l  ye  lent  your  ear  in  the  morning,  or  especially  at 
oven,  and  heard  in  the  tents  the  sound  of  some  singing  pjsalms,  some 
praying,  and  some  reading  Scripture,  ye  would  have  been  refreshed. 
True,  there  was  swearing  and  cursing  and  brawling  in  some  quarters, 
whereat  we  were  grieved  ;  but  we  hoped,  if  our  camp  had  been  a  little 
settled,  to  have  gotten  some  way  for  these  luisorders ;  for  all  of 
any  fashion  did  regret,  and  all  did  promise  to  contribute  their  best 
endeavours  for  helping  all  abuses.  For  myself,  I  never  found  my 
mind  in  better  temper  than  it  was  all  that  time  frae  I  came  from  home, 
till  my  head  was  again  homeward  ;  for  I  was  as  a  man  who  had  taken 
my  leave  from  the  world,  and  was  resolved  to  die  in  that  service  without 
return.  I  found  the  favour  of  God  shiidng  upon  me,  and  a  sweet,  meek, 
hunilile,  yet  strong  and  vehement  spirit  leading  me  all  along  ;  but  I 
was  no  sooner  in  my  way  westward,  after  the  conclusion  of  peace,  than 
my  old  security  returned." — Letters,  &c.,  i.  214. 


THE    MARCH    TO    THE    BORDER,    1639.  59 

people  had  a  terrible  name  for  rapine  and  ferocity. 
"It  was  tliouglit,"  says  Baillie,  "the  country  of  Eng- 
land was  more  afraid  for  the  barbarity  of  his  High- 
landers than  of  any  other  terror.  These  of  the  English 
that  came  to  visit  our  camp  did  gaze  much  with 
admiration  on  these  supple  fellows,  with  their  plaids, 
target,  and  dorlachs."  Thus  it  was  in  the  cause  of 
the  Covenant  that  Highland  troops  first  threatened 
the  English  border. 

The  army  had  an  excellent  commissariat,  in  which 
their  own  sagacious  organisation  was  assisted  by 
fortunate  contingencies.  The  account  of  the  material 
condition  of  the  host  would  be  spoilt  if  given  in  any 
other  than  Baillie's  own  words  : — 

"  None  of  our  gentlemen  was  anything  worse  of 
lying  some  weeks  together  in  their  cloak  and  boots 
on  the  ground,  or  standing  all  night  in  arms  in  the 
greatest  storm.  Whiles,  through  storm  of  weather 
and  neglect  of  the  commissaries,  our  bread  would  be 
too  long  in  coming,  which  made  some  of  the  eastland 
soldiers  half  mutiny ;  but  at  once  order  being  taken 
for  our  victuals  from  Edinburgh,  East  Lothian,  and 
the  country  about  us,  we  were  answered  better  than 
we  could  have  been  at  home.  Our  meanest  soldiers 
was  always  served  in  wheat-bread,  and  a  groat  would 
have  gotten  them  a  lamb-leg,  which  was  a  dainty 
world  to  the  most  of  them.  There  had  been  an  extra- 
ordinary crop  in  that  country  the  former  year,  beside 
abundance  which  still  was  stolen  away  to  the  English 
camp  for  great  prices  ;  we  would  have  feared  no  iulake 
for  little  money  in  some  months  to  come.  Marche  and 
Tevidaill  are  the  best  mixt  and  most  plentiful  shires 
both  for  grass  and  corn,  for  fleshes  and  bread,  in  all 


6o  CHARLES    I. 

our  land.  AVe  were  mncli  obliged  to  the  town  of 
Edinburgh  for  moneys.  Harie  EoUock,  by  his  ser- 
mons, moved  them  to  shake  out  their  purses.  The 
garners  of  non-Covenanters,  especially  of  James  Max- 
well and  my  Lord  Wintoun,  gave  us  plenty  of  wheat. 
One  of  our  ordinances  was  to  seize  on  the  rents  of  non- 
Covenanters  ;  for  we  thought  it  but  reasonable,  [since] 
they  sided  with  these  who  put  our  lives  and  our  lands 
for  ever  to  seal,  for  the  defence  of  our  Church  and 
country, — to  employ  for  that  cause,  wherein  their  in- 
terest was  as  great  as  ours  if  they  would  be  Scottish- 
men,  a  part  of  their  rent  for  a,ne  year ;  but  for  all 
that,  few  of  them  did  incur  any  loss  by  that  our  de- 
cree, for  the  peace  prevented  the  execution."^ 

The  army,  thus  effectively  equipped,  contained 
twenty-two  thousand  footmen  and  five  hundred  horse- 
men. It  will  give  some  conception  of  the  skill  and 
perseverance  of  those  who  sent  it  forth,  to  note  that, 
in  mere  jiroportion  to  the  number  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Scotland,  it  Avas  such  a  feat  as  if  a  British  war 
minister  of  the  present  day  could  place  an  army  of 
some  six  hundred  thousand  efiective  men  on  the 
march. 

When  the  army  had  reached  Dungias,  on  the  Ber- 
wickshire coast,  the  Lord  Holland  handed  to  the  gen- 
eral a  proclamation  issued  l)y  the  king  at  Newcastle 
on  the  14th  of  JMay.  It  stated  that  he  found  the  Scots 
nation  were  aj)prehensive  that,  contrary  to  his  inten- 
tions, he  had  come  to  invade  them.  He  wishes  to  remove 
this  impression  ;  "  if  all  civil  and  temporal  obedience  be 
effectually  and  timely  given  and  shown,"  there  is  to 
be   no  invasion.     The  document  is  full  of  indistinct 

'  Letters,  &c.,  i.  213. 


CAMP    ON    DUNSE    LAW,    1639.  61 

matter  of  tliis  kind ;  but  it  contained  one  positive 
declaration  fit  to  be  a  ground  of  action, — if  the  Scots 
came  within  ten  miles  of  the  Border,  they  were  to  be 
treated  as  "  rebels  and  invaders  of  this  our  kingdom 
of  England,"  and  to  be  attacked  by  the  English  army.^ 
A  council  of  war  was  held  in  the  Scots  camp,  and  it 
was  resolved  in  the  mean  time  to  obey  the  proclama- 
tion, and  to  keep  themselves  ten  miles  distant  from 
the  Border.^  An  inexplicable  incident  connects  itself 
with  this  transaction.  A  large  detachment  of  the 
Scots  —  four  or  five  thousand  —  were  stationed  at 
Kelso.  Whether  or  not  they  were  at  the  time  con- 
scious of  the  proclamation,  they  were  then  within  ten 
miles  of  England.  The  Lord  Holland  came  up  with 
a  force  of  about  equal  strength  and  threatened  a 
charge,  but  finding  that  it  would  be  steadily  received, 
wheeled  his  troop  round  and  suddenly  left  the  ground. 
The  Scots  exulted  over  this  as  an  inglorious  and  dis- 
orderly retreat.  It  is  likely  that  Holland  supposed 
the  Scots  party  to  be  a  small  one  which  he  could 
easily  drive  back  to  the  prescribed  distance,  and  that 
when  he  saw  there  would  be  tough  resistance  he  feared 
the  responsibility  of  fighting  the  first  battle.-"^ 

^  The  proclamation  is  printed  from  a  JMS.,  in  Peterkin's  Records,  220. 

^  Gordon's  Scots  Ailaixs,  iii.  5. 

'  Ibid.,  7.  Sir  Harry  Vane,  in  a  letter  to  Hamilton,  described  the 
affair  thus  :  "  My  Lord  Holland  with  one  thousand  horse  and  three 
thousand  foot  marched  towards  Kelso,  which  when  the  rebels  discovered 
they  instantly  marched  out  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  horse,  and  (as 
my  Lord  Holland  says)  eight  or  ten  thousand  foot — five  or  six  thousand 
there  might  have  been.  He  thereupon  sent  a  trumpet  comniaudin" 
them  to  retreat,  according  to  what  they  had  promised  by  the  proclama- 
tion. They  asked  whose  trumpeter  he  was;  he  said  my  Lord  Holland's. 
Their  answer  was,  he  had  best  to  be  gone  ;  and  so  my  Lord  Holland 
made  his  retreat,  and  waited  on  his  majesty  this  night  to  give  him 
this  account." — Burnet's  Memoirs,  139.      Baillie's  view  was  :     "  It  is 


62  CHARLES    I. 

The  Scots  commander  called  in  all  liis  separate 
detachments,  so  that  his  army  might  intrench  itself  in 
a  permanent  camp  at  Dunse.  This  selection  was  not 
in  literal  compliance  with  the  proclamation  to  keep 
ten  miles  from  the  Border,  but  virtually  it  showed 
that  he  did  not  intend  to  cross  the  Border  and  attack 
the  king's  army.  The  nature  of  the  ground  was 
doubtless  the  reason  of  selection.  The  Law  of  Dunse 
is  a  round  trap  hill  entirely  coated  with  thick  turf, 
not  interrupted  by  breaks  or  rocks.  It  stands  apart 
by  itself,  and  has  a  thorough  command  over  the 
country  around,  affording  a  view  far  into  England. 
Baillie's  description  of  the  encampment  is  brief  but 
sufficient :  "  Our  hill  was  garnished  on  the  top  to- 
wards the  south  and  east  with  our  mounted  cannon, 
well  near  to  the  number  of  forty,  great  and  small. 
Our  regiments  lay  on  the  sides  of  the  hill  almost 
round  about.  The  place  was  not  a  mile  in  circle — a 
pretty  round  rising  in  a  declivity  without  steepness 
to  the  height  of  a  bowshot.  On  the  top  somewhat 
plain  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  length,  and  as 
much  in  breadth,  as  I  remember,  capable  of  tents  for 
forty  thousand  men.  The  crouners  lay  in  canvas  lodg- 
ings high  and  wide ;  their  captains  about  them  in 
lesser  ones ;  the  soldiers  about  all  in  huts  of  timber 
covered  with  divot  or  straw.  "^ 

The  king's  army  was  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Tweed.     To  honour  the  presence  of  royalty  it  was 

thought  Holland's  commission  was  to  cut  off  all  he  met  in  opposition 
to  him  ;  but  his  soldiers  that  day  was  a  great  deal  more  nimhle  in 
their  legs  nor  arms,  excejjt  their  Cavaliers,  whose  right  arms  was  not 
less  weary  in  whipping  than  their  heels  in  jading  their  horses." — 
Letters,  i.  210. 
1  Letters,  i.  211. 


CAMP    ON    DUNSE    LAW,    1639.  63 

decorated  with  much  splendour ;  but  its  materials  were 
of  the  same  worthless  kind  as  the  levies  sent  to 
Hamilton's  fleet.  The  two  hosts  looked  at  each  other, 
and  to  the  English  it  was  plain  that  the  post  taken 
by  the  Scots  covered  any  road  they  might  take 
northwards. 

Thus,  while  still  maintaining  his  divine  right  and 
the  duty  of  implicit  obedience,  the  king  had  come 
face  to  face  with  absolute  defeat  at  the  hands  of  his 
subjects.  The  question  Avas,  whether  he  should  fight 
and  be  beaten,  or  treat.  His  advisers  could  not  well 
hesitate  which  to  choose ;  but  the  problem  was  how  to 
treat,  and  yet  to  save  the  royal  dignity.  The  other 
side  were  ready  to  help  to  this  solution,  provided  they 
had  practically  their  own  way  in  all  things.  A  Scots- 
man, Eobert  Leslie,  one  of  the  royal  pages,  stepped 
over  to  the  Scots  camp  to  see  and  converse  with  old 
friends.  He  touched  on  various  topics,  and  at  last,  as 
if  it  were  a  spontaneous  thought  which  he  could  not 
help  uttering — might  it  not  be  prudent  at  this,  the 
last  moment,  to  present  a  humble  supplication  to  his 
majesty  ?  The  hint  was  taken.  The  "  humble  sup- 
plication," partaking  of  the  brevity  of  the  camp,  and 
strongly  in  contrast  with  previous  documents  of  the 
same  name,  desired  that  his  majesty  would  appoint 
some  persons  well  affected  to  true  religion  and  the 
common  peace,  to  hear  their  humble  desires  and  make 
known  to  them  his  majesty's  gracious  pleasure.^  The 
king  referred  to  his  "  gracious  proclamation"  to  his 
subjects  in  Scotland,  which  had  "  been  hitherto  hin- 
dered to  be  published,"— when  it  was  "  publicly  read" 
he   would    hear   their    supplications   at   length.      Sir 

1  Rushworth,  iii.  9.38. 


c 


64  CHARLES    I. 

Edward  ^^-'^nay,  a  man  who  saw  all  tlie  danger  and 
eagerly  desired  to  obviate  it,  was  sent  to  tlie  Scots 
camp  witli  this  proposal.  He  was  told  distinctly  that 
the  proclamation  could  not  be  acknowledged  or  pub- 
lished. The  reasons  for  this  were  given  at  length 
and  offered  to  him  in  writing ;  they  were  in  sub- 
stance the  same  as  those  tendered  to  Hamilton.^  But 
Vcrnay  was  eager  for  some  compromise.  In  the 
ouncil  of  officers  round  the  general's  table  the  pro- 
clamation was  produced  and  examined,  as  people  met 
on  business  examine  the  documents  connected  with 
it.  Some  one  suggested  the  reading  it  over,  and  it 
was  read  accordingly  "  with  much  reverence."  This 
Vernay  reported  as  "a  satisfaction "  of  the  king's 
demand.  The  satisfaction  was  accepted,  and  an  inti- 
mation was  sent  to  the  Scots  camp,  that  "his  majesty, 
having  understood  of  the  obedience  of  the  petitioners 
in  reading  his  proclamation  as  was  commanded 
them,  is  graciously  pleased  so  far  to  condescend  unto 
their  petition,  as  to  admit  some  of  them  to  repair  to 
his  majesty's  camp  upon  Monday  next  at  eight  o'clock 
in  the  morning  at  the  lord  general's  tent,  where  they 
shall  find  six  persons  of  honour  and  trust  appointed  by 
his  majesty  to  hear  their  humble  desires."  Thus  was 
the  great  crisis  postponed  and  an  opportunity  opened 
for  negotiation.  Yet  even  at  this  point  the  Scots  ex- 
emplified that  spirit  of  suspicion  that,  whether  Avell  or 
ill  founded,  had  taken  possession  of  them,  and  a  de- 
termination to  rely  on  nothing  but  their  own  strength. 
This  invitation,  signed  by  Sir  Edward  Coke,  the 
Secretary  of  State,   was  tendered  to  them  as  a  safe- 

^  See  above,  p.  55.     Tliey  will  be  found,  as  stated  in  the  camp  of 
date  18th  .June  16.39,  in  Peterkin's  Records,  p.  226. 


PACIFICATION    OF    BERWICK,    1639.  6$ 

conduct,  but  was  not  accepted  to  that  effect :  "  Although 
themselves  did  not  mistrust  his  majesty's  word  signi- 
fied by  the  secretary,  yet  the  people  and  army  would 
not  permit  their  deputies  to  come  without  his  majesty's 
own  hand  and  warrant."     The  stinp-  in  such  an  inti- 

O 

mation  could  not  be  the  less  sharp  that  it  was  made 
in  honest  caution  and  not  in  bravado  ;  but  the  offence 
tendered  in  it  could  not  be  taken  in  such  an  emer- 
gency. With  the  necessary  changes,  "  the  self-same 
form  which  had  been  signed  by  Mr  Secretary  Coke 
was  again  returned  them  upon  Sunday  night,  June 
the    9th,   signed   by  his   majesty."  ^ 

The  commissioners  sent  from  the  Scots  camp  were 
Eothes,  Loudon,  Douglas,  the  Sheriff  of  Teviotdale, 
Warriston,  and  Henderson.  The  place  of  meeting- 
was  the  tent  occupied  by  the  English  commander,  the 
Earl  of  Arundel.  There  was  something  faintly  dis- 
pleasing in  this  arrangement,  since  he  was  suspected 
of  Popish  leanings ;  but  the  heterodoxy  of  the  owner 
of  the  canvas  stretched  over  them  was  a  trifle,  and 
they  satisfied  their  consciences  by  addressing  them- 
selves not  to  him  but  to  the  Lord  Holland.  It  was 
admitted,  too,  that  Arundel's  hospitality,  also  un- 
affected by  his  opinions,  was  munificent. 

They  had  but  begun  business  when  a  strange  inci- 
dent occurred.  The  king  stepped  into  the  tent  unan- 
nounced, and  so  noiselessly  that  the  Scots  commission- 
ers, who  had  their  backs  to  the  entrance,  were  for  some 
little  time  unaware  of  his  presence.  Such  a  disturbing 
influence  in  deliberative  assemblies,  especially  of  small 
numbers,  was  inimical  to  British  constitutional  pre- 
cedent both  in  England  and  Scotland.     Whether  or 

1  Rushwortli,  iii.  939;  Hardwioke's  State  Papers,  ii.  130. 
VOL.  VII.  E 


66  CHARLES    I. 

not  it  was  from  a  reliance  on  the  overawing  influence 
of  the  sacred  presence,  King  Charles  showed  great 
hankering  for  such  surprises — witness  his  undesired 
presence  and  interference  in  the  meeting  of  the  Estates 
in  1633,  and  afterwards  his  appearance  in  the  House 
of  Commons  to  claim  the  five  members.  He  attended 
the  conference  pretty  regularly,  and  bore  with  patience 
and  complacency  speeches  that  can  have  been  neither 
enlivening  nor  congenial.  "  The  king,"  says  Baillie, 
"  was  very  sober,  meek,  and  patient  to  hear  all ;  our 
spokesmen  were  very  earnest  to  speak  much,  to  make 
large  and  plausible  narrations,  as  well  they  could, 
of  all  our  proceedings  from  the  beginning."  "Much 
and  most  free  communina;  there  was  of  the  highest 
matters  of  State.  It  is  likely  his  majesty's  ears  had 
never  been  tickled  with  such  discourses ;  yet  he  was 
most  patient  of  all,  and  loving  of  clear  reason."  "His 
majesty  was  ever  the  longer  the  better  loved  of  all 
that  heard  him,  as  one  of  the  most  just,  reasonable, 
sweet  persons  they  ever  had  seen;  and  he  also  was  the 
more  enamoured  with  us,  especially  with  Henderson 
and  Loudon.  These  conferences  purchased  to  us  a 
great  deal  of  reputation  for  wisdom,  eloquence,  gravity, 
loyalty,  and  all  other  good  parts  with  tlie  English 
counsellors,  who  all  the  time  did  speak  little,  but 
suffered  the  speech  to  pass  betwixt  us  and  the  king."^ 
Thus  the  king's  presence  and  demeanour  infused 
through  those  stubborn  men  a  soothing  influence, 
prompting  them  to  reliance.  This  feeling,  however, 
did  not  take  the  direction  that  he  who  created  it  might 
have  desired.  It  was  not  a  reliance  on  the  soundness 
of  any  step  which  the  king  might  take,  but  a  reliance 

'  Baillie's  Letters,  i.  217. 


PACIFICATION    OF    BERWICK,    1639.  &"] 

that  they  had  talked  him  over  to  their  own  side.  They 
startled  him  somewhat  by  a  request  made  with  due 
formal  reverence,  that  he  would  set  his  own  hand  as 
they  had  set  theirs  to  the  abolition  of  Episcopacy. 
But  even  to  this  he  avoided  an  irritating  answer — it 
was  a  weighty  matter  which  he  must  take  time  to 
think  of. 

It  would  be  easy  to  fill  up  a  narrative  of  contradic- 
tion and  debate  from  the  writings  connected  with  this 
conference.  Papers  were  exchanged,  as  of  old,  with 
supplications  and  evasions  or  refusals.  The  way  in 
which  one  side  set  forth  in  writing  the  verbal  discus- 
sions or  conclusions  was  contradicted  by  the  other. 
When  the  king  proclaimed  his  view  of  the  future 
sanctioned  by  the  conference,  there  was  the  inevitable 
"  protestation"  contradicting  him.  But  these  wrang- 
lings  had  none  of  the  importance  of  those  which  pre- 
ceded the  Covenant  and  the  General  Assembly.  Then 
they  represented  an  actual  contest,  attended  by  uncer- 
tainties and  mutations.  Now  it  might  be  said  that  the 
Covenanters  were  in  possession,  the  c[uestion  remain- 
ing was,  whether  they  were  to  hold  that  possession  by 
the  sword,  or  to  keep  it  in  peace,  avoiding  the  scandal 
and  the  other  evils  of  a  civil  war. 

There  were  thus  some  points  that  might  be  called 
open  questions,  which  the  stronger  party  could  close 
at  their  will.  The  king  would  not  acknowledge  that 
General  Assembly  which  had  been  held  against  his  com- 
mand, and  the  other  party  would  not  disavow  it.  The 
whole  question  was  left  to  a  free  Assembly  and  a  free 
meeting  of  the  Estates.  The  prevailing  party  could 
not  object  to  these  exercising  their  full  power  of  re- 
visal.     They  knew  well  what  the  result  would  be;  and 


68  CHARLES    I. 

if  the  king's  dignity  was  saved  by  its  resolving  itself 
into  that  shape,  it  was  well.  So  with  the  Bishops.  The 
king  would  not  absolutely  accept  their  destruction,  nor 
would  the  other  party  disavow  the  act — this,  too,  would 
be  in  the  hands  of  the  Parliament  and  Assembly. 

For  other  and  immediate  matters  it  was  agreed  that 
both  armies  should  be  disbanded,  and  that  the  Scottish 
fortresses  should  be  restored  to  the  king.  There  were 
other  items  of  a  secondary  kind ;  but  they  are  of  little 
moment,  since  each  party  charged  the  other  as  unfaith- 
ful to  the  treaty,  and  it  affected  no  more  than  a  post- 
ponement of  the  c[uarrel.  Other  incidents  were  pro- 
motive of  jealousy  and  irritation.  While  the  king  was 
yet  on  the  Border  he  sent  messages  to  fourteen  of  those 
who  had  chief  influence  in  the  management  of  Scots 
affairs,  desiring  them  to  come  to  him  that  he  mio-ht 
consult  with  them  on  high  and  important  matters  of 
policy.  There  was  something  imusual,  to  the  verge  of 
eccentricity,  in  such  a  proposal,  especially  when  a  con- 
ference in  which  they  were  on  one  side  and  he  on  the 
other  had  been  brought  to  a  practical  conclusion. 
There  were  two  suspicious  questions  raised  about  the 
affair.  Did  he  desire  to  have  these  men  as  his  guests 
and  companions,  that  he  might  try  the  influence  of  his 
royal  blandishments  on  them  1  This  was  the  lighter  sus- 
picion of  the  two.  The  other  laid  bluntly  to  his  charge 
a  design  to  kidnap  the  leaders  of  the  Covenant  party. 
Those  so  invited  all  declined  to  attend.  Whatever  was 
meant  by  the  invitation,  its  rejection  was  naturally 
counted  as  an  offence  by  subjects  to  their  sovereign.^ 

^  The  king,  when  he  explained  his  ahsence  from  the  Assemhly  which 
he  had  intended  to  grace,  said :  "  But  one  of  the  greatest  discourage- 
ments we  had  from  going  tliitlier  was  the  refusing  of  such  lords  and 


PACIFICATION    OF    BERWICK,    1639.  69 

On  the  other  hand,  the  king  cast  a  bitter  reproacli 
on  those  with  Avhom  he  had  been  so  gracious  and  genial 
in  Arundel's  tent.  At  a  meeting  of  the  English  Privy 
Council  he  altered  and  denounced  the  account  of  the 
treaty  as  the  Scots  commissioners  told  it,  as  being 
"  in  most  parts  full  of  falsehood,  dishonour,  and  scandal 
to  his  majesty's  proceedings  in  the  late  pacification 
given  of  his  majesty's  princely  grace  and  goodness  to 
his  subjects  in  Scotland."  He  called  on  the  English 
commissioners  who  had  been  present  to  attest  the 
falsehood  of  the  account,  and  the  minute  of  the  meet- 
ing of  Council  records  their  testimony  against  its  ac- 
curacy. In  the  end,  "  the  whole  board  unanimously 
became  humble  petitioners  to  his  majesty,  that  this 
false  and  scandalous  paper  might  be  publicly  burnt  by 
the  hangman."  ^  This  was  awkward  treatment  by  the 
Government  of  England  of  what  was  virtually  a  State 
paper  issued  by  the  existing  Government  of  Scotland. 
Then  we  are  told  that  "  the  pulpits  spoke  it  out  very 
loudly,  that  the  king  had  caused  burn  all  the  articles 
of  the  pacification  at  Berwick  by  the  hand  of  the 
hangman  after  his  return  to  London,  which  was  be- 
lieved by  very  many,  who  upon  that  account  looked 
upon  the  king  as  a  truce-breaker,  and  from  that  time 
forwards  contracted  so  great  animosity  against  him 
that  they  thought  him  not  to  be  trusted."  ^ 

others  of  that  nation  whom  we  sent  for  to  come  to  us  to  Berwick  ;  by 
which  disobedience  they  manifestly  discovered  their  distrust  of  us,  and 
it  cannot  be  thought  reasonable  that  we  should  trust  our  person  with 
those  that  distrusted  us,  after  so  many  arguments  and  assurances  of 
our  goodness  towards  them."  —  His  Majesty's  Declaration  concerning 
his  Proceedings  with  his  Subjects  of  Scotland  since  his  Pacification 
in  the  Camp  near  Berwick;  Eushworth,  1018. 

'  Eushworth,  iii.  965,  966. 

2  Gordon's  Scots  Affairs,  iii.  31. 


70  CHARLES    I. 

The  next  stage  in  the  progress  of  events  is  the  hold- 
ing first  of  a  General  As.scmbly,  and  next  of  a  meeting 
of  the  Estates.  The  king  had  announced  that  he  was 
to  be  present  at  both,  but  he  changed  his  intention. 
Hamilton  was  again  desired  to  act  as  Commis- 
sioner, but  he  declined  the  trust.  It  was  natural,  and 
perhaps  becoming,  that  neither  the  king  nor  his  com- 
missioner who  had  professed  to  close  the  previous 
Assembly  should  preside,  since  the  business  to  be 
transacted  was  a  formal  surrender  of  all  that  tlie 
royal  prerogative  had  asserted  for  upwards  of  thirty 
years  in  the  ecclesiastical  organisation  of  Scotland. 

The  Assembly  met  at  Edinburgh  on  the  12th  of 
August,  with  the  Earl  of  Traquair  as  commissioner. 
As  in  the  Assembly  of  1638,  care  was  taken  to  exclude 
the  uncovenanted,  and  the  process  had  become  far  less 
troublesome  since  the  spirit  of  opposition  was  dead. 
Comj)ared,  indeed,  with  the  other,  this  Assembly 
resembled  a  conclave  of  official  persons  who  have  to 
record  and  put  in  order  the  resolutions  over  which  a 
great  battle  has  been  fought,  with  debates,  musters  of 
attendance,  and  anxious  voting.  The  commissioner 
recommended  brevity  and  expedition  in  the  work  to 
be  accomplished.  In  the  spirit  of  getting  quickly  over 
a  disagreeable  but  necessary  business,  he  suggested 
"  that  all  these  evils  which  were  the  grievances  might 
be  viewed  together  and  included  under  one  Act."  It 
was  conceded  to  the  king,  that  although  they  were 
virtually  met  to  confirm  the  Acts  of  the  Assembly 
of  1638,  it  should  not  be  referred  to  in  the  Acts 
of  the  new  Assembly,  however  it  might  be  mentioned 
in  debate.  Also,  that  in  confirming  the  abolition  of 
Episcopacy,  nothing  should  be    said    abusive  of  that 


GENERAL   ASSEMBLY,    1639.  71 

form  of  Churcli  government  as  Popish  or  otherwise, 
but  that  it  should  be  simply  condemned  as  "  contrary 
to  the  constitution  of  the  Church  of  Scotland."  The 
same  negative  courtesy  was  to  be  rendered  to  the 
Court  of  High  Commission  and  to  the  abolished 
ceremonies. 

In  this  spirit  an  Act  was  passed  "  containing  the 
causes  and  remedies  of  the  bygone  evils  of  this  Kirk." 
It  enumerated  the  Articles  of  Perth,  the  establishment 
of  Bishops,  the  Service-book,  Book  of  Canons,  and  the 
other  grievances  of  which  we  have  seen  so  much 
already,  and  declared  them  to  be  "  still"  abjured  and 
unlawful.  A  little  dramatic  scene  was  prepared  for 
the  inauguration  of  this  completion  of  the  revolution. 
After  "  Mr  Andrew  Cant,  having  a  strong  voice,"  had 
read  the  Act,  some  of  the  clergy  present,  including 
certain  venerable  ministers  who  had  witnessed  the  per- 
fection of  the  Presbyterian  polity  in  the  days  of  the 
Melvilles,  were  desired  to  "  speak  their  judgment"  on 
what  had  been  accomplished.  The  voices  of  some  of 
these  men  had  been  known  of  old,  but  in  later  times 
had  been  lost  in  the  storm  that  had  overtaken  their 
favourite  polity.  Among  these  were  Alexander  Som- 
erville,  Harry  RoUock,  John  Row,  John  Bell,  William 
Livingston,  and  John  Ker.  As  a  fair  specimen  of  these 
grave  rejoicings,  we  may  take  the  contribution  made  to 
them  by  John  Weems,  a  man  unknown  in  debate  or 
polemics,  but  a  scholar  and  a  patient  worker  in  Biblical 
criticism  :  "  Mr  John  Weems  called  on,  could  scarce 
get  a  word  spoken  for  tears  trickling  down  along  his 
grey  hairs  like  drops  of  rain  or  dew  upon  the  top  of 
the  tender  grass,  and  yet  withal  smiling  for  joy, 
said  :   '  I  do    remember  when  the    Kirk  of   Scotland 


72  CHARLES    I. 

had  a  beautiful  face.  I  remember  since  there  was 
a  great  power  and  life  accompanying  the  ordinances 
of  God,  and  a  wonderful  work  of  operation  upon  the 
hearts  of  people.  These,  my  eyes,  did  see  a  fearful  de- 
fection after,  procured  by  our  sins,  and  no  more  did  I 
wish  before  my  eyes  were  closed  but  to  have  seen  such 
a  beautiful  day.  Blessed  for  evermore  be  our  Lord 
and  King,  Jesus ;  and  the  blessing  of  God  be  upon  his 
majesty,  and  the  Lord  make  us  thankful.'"  On  this 
the  moderator,  ]\Ir  David  Dickson,  said :  "  I  believe 
the  king's  majesty  made  never  the  heart  of  any  man 
so  blyth  in  giving  them  a  bishopric  as  he  has  made 
the  heart  of  that  reverend  man  joyful  in  putting  them 
away;  and  I  am  persuaded,  if  his  majesty  saw  you 
shedding  tears  for  blythness,  he  should  have  more 
pleasure  in  you  nor  in  some  of  those  that  he  has  given 
great  things  unto."  Thereupon  "old  Mr  John  Bell, 
in  Glasgow,  said  :  '  My  voice  nor  my  tongue  cannot 
express  the  joy  of  my  heart  to  see  this  torn-down  Kirk 
restored  to  her  beauty.  The  Lord  make  us  thankful. 
Lord  bless  his  majesty  and  commissioner.'  "  "  Old  Mr 
Livingston,"  also,  had  seen  the  ancient  glory,  and 
mourned  under  the  eclipse,  and  now  he  had  lived  to 
see  the  brightness,  ending  :  "  And  now  I  have  seen  it, 
and  bless  the  Lord  for  it,  and  begs  the  blessing  from 
heaven   upon   our  gracious  sovereign."  ^ 

Such  was  the  extinction  of  Episcopacy  as  enacted 
before  the  world.  But  before  we  understand  the  full 
policy  of  the  surrender,  we  must  seek  help  from  some 
documents  which  did  not  so  frankly  court  the  light — 
<locuments  that,  had  they  been  known  in  that  Assem- 
bly, would  have  been  apt  to  extijiguisli  the  ardour  of 

'  Peterkin's  Eecords,  250-52. 


GENERAL    ASSEMBLY,    1639.  ^l 

the  thanks  and  blessings  bestowed  on  the  king.  Of 
date  the  6th  of  August — six  days  before  the  opening  of 
the  Assembly — there  existed  a  letter  by  the  king  to 
Spottiswood,  who  had  been  Archbishop  of  St  Andrews, 
and  still  was  addressed  as  "  right  trusty  and  well- 
beloved  councillor  and  reverend  father  in  God."  It 
was  an  answer  to  an  address  sent  by  the  Scottish 
bishops  through  Laud  as  their  mediator;  and  the 
scroll  of  the  letter  was  to  be  seen  in  Burnet's  day,  in 
the  handwriting  of  Hamilton,  "  interlined  in  some 
places  by  my  Lord  of  Canterbury."  The  king  begins 
by  telling  them  that  he  cannot  comply  with  their 
proposal  to  prorogate  the  Assembly  —  the  political 
conditions  render  that  impossible.  At  the  same  time 
he  does  not  see  the  use  of  their  attempting  to  hold  a 
meeting — in  Scotland  it  would  be  dangerous,  in  Eng- 
land unproductive.  Nor  would  he  liave  them  venture 
into  the  Assembly.  With  all  this  discouragement,  he 
says  :  "  We  do  hereby  assure  you  that  it  shall  be  still 
one  of  our  chiefest  studies  how  to  rectify  and  establish 
the  government  of  that  Church  aright,  and  to  repair 
your  losses,  which  we  desire  you  to  be  most  confident 
of."  Then,  to  show  that  these  are  not  mere  vague  ex- 
pressions of  goodwill,  he  instructs  them  how  to  begin 
in  secret  to  aid  him  in  the  work  of  restoration,  thus  : 
"  We  conceive  that  the  best  way  will  be  for  your  lord- 
ships to  give  in  by  way  of  protestation  and  remonstrance 
your  exceptions  against  this  Assembly  and  Parliament 
to  our  commissioner,  which  may  be  sent  by  any  mean 
man,  so  he  be  trusty  and  deliver  it  at  his  entering 
into  the  church  ;  but  we  would  not  have  it  be  read 
or  argued  in  this  meeting,  where  nothing  but  partial- 
ity is  to  be  expected,  but  to  be  represented  to  us  by 


74  CHARLES    I. 

him,  wliicli  we  promise  to  take  so  in  consideration  as 
becometh  a  prince  sensible  of  bis  own  interest  and 
honour,  joined  with  tlie  equity  of  your  desires.  And 
you  may  rest  secure,  that  though  we  may  perhaps  give 
way  for  the  present  to  that  which  will  be  prejudicial 
both  to  the  Church  and  our  own  Government,  yet  wc 
shall  not  leave  thinking  in  time  how  to  remedy  both."  ^ 

The  task  assigned  to  Traquair  was  delicate,  and, 
looking  to  the  temper  of  those  who  had  undisputed 
command  in  Scotland,  also  perhaps  dangerous.  He 
would  naturally  desire  directions  in  writing  on  the 
point,  in  addition  to  whatever  he  might  derive  from 
verbal  conference.  But  such  directions  would  require 
to  be  cautiously  expressed  ;  for  any  document  from  the 
king  regulating  the  conduct  and  procedure  of  his 
representative  in  Scotland  would  not  so  easily  be  kept 
private  as  the  hint  given  to  the  poor  bishops.  Hence 
this  enigmatical  instruction  :  "  In  giving  way  to  the 
abolishing  of  Episcopacy,  be  careful  that  it  be  done 
Avithout  the  appearing  of  any  warrant  from  the  bishops; 
and  if  any  offer  to  appear  for  them,  you  are  to  inquire 
into  their  warrant,  and  carry  the  dispute  so  as  the 
conclusion  seem  not  to  be  made  in  prejudice  of  Epis- 
copacy as  unlawful,  but  only  in  satisfaction  to  the 
people  for  settling  the  present  disorders  and  such 
other  reasons  of  State  ;  but  herein  you  must  l3e  careful 
that  our  intentions  appear  not  to  any."  ^ 

After  they  had  concluded  the  great  work,  the  As- 
sembly had  yet  something  of  moment  to  do  ere  they 
separated.  The  king  had  come  before  the  world  in  a 
new  shape — as  a  controversial  pamphleteer.  Things 
had  come  forth  from   him,  or  at  least  in   his  name, 

^  Burnet's  Memoirs,  154.  -  Iljid.,  150. 


THE    king's    large    DECLARATION,    1639.        75 

against  whicli  it  behoved  them  to  lift  their  testimony. 
As  the  king  marched  northward,  a  "  Declaration"  had 
been  circulated  in  England  vindicating  his  resort  to 
arms.  Whether  wisely  or  not,  it  appealed  to  the  spirit 
of  High  Church  and  divine  right  as  political  influences 
still  powerful  in  England,  and  treated  the  Covenanters 
somewhat  bitterly,  saying  of  their  fundamental  charter : 
'"'  AVhich  Covenant  of  theirs  they  have  treacherously 
induced  many  of  our  people  to  swear  to  a  band  against 
us  ;  which  band  and  Covenant,  or  rather  conspiracy 
of  theirs,  could  not  be  with  God,  being  against  us,  the 
Lord's  anointed  over  them.  But  it  was  and  is  a  band 
and  Covenant  pretended  to  be  with  God,  that  they  may 
with  the  better  countenance  do  the  work  of  the  devil, 
such  as  all  treasons  and  rebellions  are."  There  were 
appeals  to  other  and  more  material  English  doctrines 
or  prejudices.  He  pointed  lastly  to  "  their  most  hostile 
preparations  of  all  kinds,  as  if  we  were  not  their  king- 
but  their  sworn  enemy;  for  what  can  their  intentions 
be,  being  thus  prepared,  but  to  invade  this  kingdom, 
should  they  not  find  us  ready  both  to  resist  their  force 
and  to  curb  their  insolences  1  For  many,  and  some 
of  the  ehiefest  among  them,  are  men  not  only  of  un- 
quiet spirits,  but  of  broken  fortunes,  and  would  be 
very  glad  of  any  occasion — especially  under  the  colour 
of  religion — to  make  them  whole  upon  the  lands  and 
goods  of  our  subjects  in  England,  who,  we  presume, 
besides  their  allegiance  to  us,  will  look  better  to  them- 
selves and  their  estates  than  to  share  them  with  such 
desperate  hypocrites,  who  seek  to  be  better,  and  cannot 
well  be  worse."  This  document,  called  "The  Short 
Declaration,"  announced  that  "  there  is  a  large  Declara- 
tion coming  forth,  containing  all  the  particular  passages 


76  CHARLES    I. 

which  have  occurred  in  this  business  from  the  begin- 
ning, attested  with  their  own  foul  acts,  to  disannul 
and  shame  their  fair  but  false  words."  ^ 

The  "  Large  Declaration"  thus  announced,  though  it 
professed  to  expound  from  the  same  text,  is  a  document 
of  a  different  kind.  It  is  a  folio  volume  containing 
more  than  four  hundred  pages.  Every  student  of  the 
history  of  the  period  knows  it  well,  since  it  is  not  only 
of  interest  and  moment  as  a  declaration  of  the  royal 
policy,  but  it  contaiiis  in  a  consecutive  form  the  docu- 
ments which  lie  scattered  in  several  collections.  The 
Large  Declaration  is  a  patient  and  precise  narrative — 
tedious  no  doubt,  but  prepossessing  in  its  tediousness, 
as  testifying  to  an  honest  desire  to  leave  nothing  un- 
told or  doubtful.  The  statements  in  it  are  suj)ported 
throughout  by  abundant  documents,  the  accurate  ren- 
dering of  which  has  not  been  questioned.  It  is  the 
story  of  a  magnanimous  sovereign,  the  father  of  his 
people,  dealing  with  his  erring  subjects.  Some  are 
selfish  and  aggrandising,  others  merely  petulant  and 
factious.  He  has  on  his  side  all  the  maxims.  Scrip- 
tural and  traditional,  which  require  the  people  to  obey 
the  powers  that  are  ordained  to  rule  over  them.  If  it 
be  that  he  is  changing  some  things  either  in  Church  or 
State,  it  is  to  remedy  confusions  and  irregularities,  and 
to  restore  sound  order.  But  above  all,  he,  the  supreme 
ruler,  has  been  meek  and  forbearing,  while  those  whose 
duty  it  was  to  obey  have  been  arrogant  and  dictato- 
rial. If  he  has  erred,  it  is  in  passive  endurance  rather 
than  in  anger.  Into  this,  his  error,  he  has  been  led 
by  the  Christian  spirit  of  mercy  and  forgiveness.     He 

'  Bibliotheca  Regia,  173  et  seq. 


THE    king's    large    DECLARATION,    1639.  'J'J 

has  been  long-suffering,  that  he  might  spare  the  blood 
of  his  rebellious  subjects,  and  leave  them  an  opportu- 
nity for  penitence  and  a  return  to  duty. 

The  Large  Declaration  would,  in  fact,  be  a  complete 
vindication  of  the  Government  of  Charles  I.  in  his 
dealing  with  Scotland,  were  its  primary  conditions 
accepted.  Grant  that  he  had  the  right  to  do  what  he 
was  doing,  it  is  shown  that  he  did  it  in  an  amiable, 
considerate,  and  generous  spirit.  Whoever  admitted 
that  he  was  an  absolute  monarch,  woi;ld  readily  ad- 
mit, on  the  showing  of  the  Large  Declaration,  that 
he  had  borne  his  faculties  meekly  in  the  fulfilling  of 
his  great  office. 

Had  this  book  come  from  a  triumphant  cause,  it 
would  have  been  a  triumphant  vindication.  Such  as 
it  is,  it  was  well  suited  to  establish  the  righteousness 
of  the  king's  position  in  the  monarchical  States  of 
Europe.  In  Spain  and  France,  in  the  greater  part  of 
Germany,  and  even  in  the  Scandinavian  kingdoms, 
constitutional  law  and  practice  would  not  be  under- 
stood as  legitimate  barriers  to  a  king's  prerogative. 
They  would  be  seen  only  as  old  troublesome  abuses, 
such  as  it  might  be  counted  meritorious  in  a  govern- 
ment to  sweep  away.  The  Declaration  was  adorned 
with  some  touches  of  sarcasm  ;  but  in  these,  also,  there 
was  taste  and  discretion,  since  they  were  directed  not 
against  the  graver  objects  and  acts  of  the  Covenanters, 
but  asainst  the  feminine  riots,  and  some  of  the  eccen- 
tricities  apt  to  break  out  among  communities  in  a  state 
of  excitement.  Hence  there  are  here  preserved  some 
features  of  the  times  on  which  the  historians  of  the 
Covenant  are  not  explicit — such  as  the  performances 


78  CHARLES    I. 

of  a  Mrs  Margaret  Nicholson,  who  was  subject  to  fits 
of  raving  which  passed  for  prophetic  trances.^ 

It  was  known  that  the  Large  Declaration  was  the 
work  of  Walter  Balcanquall,  a  Scotsman  who  was 
rising  step  by  step  in  the  English  hierarchy.  He  had 
become  Deau  of  Durham  when  the  Declaration  was 
published.  Thus  the  arrow  was  discharged  by  one 
who  seemed  to  have  removed  himself  into  a  place  of 
safety  from  the  coming  vengeance  ;  but  this  did  not 
tend  to  appease  the  rage  of  the  brethren.  Their 
method  of  giving  it  vent  is  perhaps  the  oddest  of  all 
their  disputative  exhibitions,  and  is  of  a  kind  so  far  apart 
from  the  usual  tenor  of  political  or  theological  contro- 
versy, that  had  it  come  from  persons  less  grave  and 
earnest,  it  might  have  been  suspected  of  a  latent  spirit 
of  jocular  sarcasm.  They  charged  the  Declaration  as  an 
offence  perpetrated  against  the  king,  whose  name  had 
been  foully  used  for  the  factious  purposes  of  the  au- 
thor.   On  this  view  of  the  case  they  presented  another 

'  "  The  multitude  was  made  believe  her  words  proceeded  not  from 
herself  but  from  God.  Thence  was  that  incredible  concourse  of  all  sorts  of 
people — noblemen,  gentlemen,  ministers,  women  of  all  ranks  and  quali- 
ties— who  watched  or  sta)  ed  by  her  day  and  night  during  the  time  of  her 
pretended  fits,  and  did  admire  her  raptures  and  inspirations  as  coming 
from  heaven.  She  spake  but  at  certain  times,  and  many  times  had  inter- 
missions of  days  and  weeks,  in  all  probability  that  she  might  have  time  to 
receive  instructions,  and  to  digest  them  against  the  next  time  of  exercis- 
ing her  gifts,  as  they  call  them,  which,  so  soon  as  she  was  ready  to  begin, 
the  news  of  it  was  blown  all  the  town  over,  and  the  house  so  thronged 
that  thousands  at  every  time  could  find  no  access.  The  joy  which  her 
auditors  conceived  for  the  comfort  of  such  a  messenger  from  heaven,  and 
such  messages  as  she  delivered  from  thence,  was  many  times  expressed 
to  them  in  tears,  by  none  more  than  by  Rolloc,  her  special  favourite,  who 
being  desired  sometimes  by  the  spectators  to  pray  with  her,  and  speak 
to  her,  answered  that  he  durst  not  do  it,  as  being  no  good  manners  in 
him  to  speak  while  his  Master  was  sjieaking  in  her." — Large  Declaration, 
227. 


THE    king's    large    DECLARATION,    1639.         79 

of  their  countless  supplications  to  the  throne.  They 
appealed  to  his  majesty  as  "  so  much  wronged  by  the 
many  foul  and  false  relations  suggested  and  persuaded 
to  him  as  truths,  and  by  stealing  the  protection  of  his 
royal  name  and  authority  to  the  doctrine  of  such  a 
book."  On  this  ground  they  called  upon  him  "to  be 
pleased  first  to  call  in  the  said  book,  and  thereby  to 
show  his  dislike  thereof ;  next,  to  give  commission 
and  warrant  to  all  such  parties  as  are  either  known 
or  suspect  to  had  hand  in  it,  and  to  appoint  such  as 
his  majesty  knows  to  be  either  authors,  informers, 
or  any  ways  accessary,  being  natives  of  this  kingdom, 
to  be  sent  hither  to  abide  their  trial  and  censure  be- 
fore the  judge  ordinary — and  in  special  Mr  Walter 
Balcanquall,  now  Dean  of  Durham,  who  is  known 
and  hath  professed  to  be  the  author,  at  least  avower 
and  maintainer  of  a  great  part  thereof — that  by  their 
exemplar  punishment  others  may  be  deterred  from 
such  dangerous  courses  as  in  such  a  way  to  raise  sedi- 
tion betwixt  the  king  and  his  subjects,  God's  honour 
may  be  vindicate  from  such  high  contempt,  his  ma- 
jesty's justice  may  appear  not  only  in  cutting  away 
such  malefactors,  but  in  discouraging  all  such  rmder- 
miners  of  his  throne,  his  loyal  and  loving  subjects 
shall  be  infinitely  contented  to  be  cleared  before  the 
world  of  so  false  and  unjust  imputations,  and  will  live 
hereafter  in  the  greater  security  when  so  dangerous  a 
cause  of  sedition  is  prevented,  and  so  will  have  the 
greater  and  greater  cause  to  pray  for  his  majesty's 
long  and  prosperous  reign."  ^ 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  whether,  on  such 
minds  as  that  of  Charles  and  Laud,  a  sense  of  the 

1  Peterkin's  Records,  206. 


8o  CHARLES    r. 

ludicrous  might  have  lightened  up  the  gloomy  scene 
on  the  reception  of  such  a  "  supplication."  We  are 
fortunate  in  possessing  some  morsels  of  the  debate,  if 
so  it  can  be  called  where  all  are  of  one  mind,  which 
ended  in  this  supplication  : — 

"  Mr  Andrew  Cant  said  :  '  It  is  so  full  of  gross  ab- 
surdities that  I  think  hanging  of  the  author  should 
prevent  all  other  censures.' 

"  The  moderator  answered  :  '  That  punishment  is 
not  in  the  hands  of  Kirkmen.' 

"  The  Sheriff  of  Teviotdale  being  asked  his  judgment, 
said:  'Ye  were  offended  with  a  Churchman's  hard 
sentence  already ;  but  truly  I  could  execute  that  sen- 
tence with  all  my  heart,  because  it  is  more  proper  to 
me,  and  I  am  better  acquainted  with  hanging.' 

"  My  Lord  Kirkcudbright  said  :  '  It  is  a  great  pity 
that  many  honest  men  in  Christendom  for  writing- 
little  books  called  pamphlets  should  want  ears,  and 
false  knaves  for  writing  such  volumes  should  brook 
heads.' "  This  was  a  reference  to  the  fate  of  Prynne, 
Burton,  and  Bastwick.  Hence  "  the  Assembly,  after 
serious  consideration  of  the  great  dishonour  to  God, 
this  Church,  and  kingdom,  by  the  said  book,  did  con- 
descend upon  a  supplication."  ^ 

One  other  item  of  business  was  transacted  ere  this 
Assembly  dispersed.  They  expressed  their  thanks  for 
the  goodness  of  the  Secret  Council  in  resolving  at 
their  request  to  enforce  subscription  to  the  Covenant 
by  penalties.  They  therefore,  "  considering  the  great 
happiness  which  may  How  from  a  full  and  perfect  union 
of  this  Kirk  and  kingdom  by  joining  of  all  in  one  and 
the  same  Covenant  with  God,  with  the  king's  majesty, 

'  Peterkin's  Records,  268. 


PARLIAMENT,    1 639-40.  8 1 

and  among  ourselves,"  ordain  that  "  all  the  masters 
of  universities,  colleges,  and  schools,  all  scholars  at 
the  passing  of  their  degrees,  all  persons  suspect  of 
Papacy  or  any  other  error,  and,  finally,  all  the  mem- 
bers of  this  Kirk  and  kingdom,  subscribe  the  same."  ^ 
Nothinsf  now  remained  to  be  done  for  the  rebuild- 
ing  of  the  fallen  Zion  except  the  sanction  of  the 
Estates.  They  had,  according  to  an  arrangement 
with  the  Government,  assembled  on  the  15th  of  May. 
They  had  been  twice  adjourned  by  the  Crown  without 
oifering  resistance  ;  but  now,  on  their  reassembling  at 
the  end  of  August,  it  was  deemed  prudent  to  let  them 
proceed  to  business.  The  riding  of  the  Parliament, 
and  all  the  solemnities,  especially  those  due  to  royalty, 
were  performed  with  exactness  and  more  than  custom- 
ary splendour.  A  fact  having  no  political  origin  of  the 
time  gave  a  casual  lustre  to  that  Parliament.  Hitherto 
the  Estates  had  met  in  the  dingy  recesses  of  the  Tol- 
booth.  Now  for  the  first  time  they  occupied  the  great 
hall,  with  its  fine  roof-work  of  oaken  beams,  which  has 
ever  since  been  one  of  the  glories  of  Edinburgh.^ 

1  Peterkin's  Records,  208. 

^  That  versatile  scholar  and  amusing  author,  James  Howell,  was  pre- 
sent on  the  occasion,  and  mentions  it  in  his  celebrated  '  Familiar  Let- 
ters.' He  talks  of  the  "fair  Parliament  House  built  here  lately,"  and 
the  general  regret  that  its  opening  was  not  rendered  auspicious  by  the 
presence  of  the  king.  "This  town  of  Edinburgh,"  he  says,  "is  one  of 
the  fairest  streets  that  ever  I  saw,  excepting  that  of  Palermo,  in  Sicily. 
It  is  about  a  mile  long,  coming  sloping  down  from  the  castle  to  Holy- 
rood  House,  now  the  royal  palace  ;  and  these  two  begin  and  terminate 
the  town.  I  am  come  hither  on  a  very  convenient  time  ;  for  here's  a 
national  Assembly  and  a  Parliament,  my  Lord  Traquair  being  his  ma- 
jesty's commissioner.  The  bishops  are  all  gone  to  rack,  and  they  have 
had  but  a  sorry  funeral.  The  very  name  is  grown  so  contemptible  that 
a  black  dog,  if  he  hath  any  white  marks  about  him,  is  called  Bishop. 
Our  Lord  of  Canterbury  is  grown  here  so  odious  that  they  call  him  com- 
monly in  the  pulpit  the  piiest  of  Baal  and  the  son  of  Belial." — P.  276. 

VOL.  VIl.  F 


82  CHARLES    I. 

This  Parliament  was  short  and  disputatious.  The 
first  contest  was  about  the  constitution  of  the  com- 
mittee called  the  Lords  of  the  Articles.  The  com- 
missioner called  the  Lords  aside  into  a  separate  apart- 
ment. The  other  Estates  sent  messengers  to  know  the 
reason  of  this  act.  They  were  answered,  that  the  first 
Estate,  with  the  commissioner,  were  selecting  the  Lords 
of  the  Articles  who  were  to  serve  for  the  other  two 
Estates,  according  to  usage.  It  was  denied  that  this 
was  an  old  usage — it  was  an  innovation  of  later  times, 
which  Ijehoved  to  be  abated,  so  that  each  Estate  might 
choose  its  own  representatives  in  the  Committee  of 
Articles.  The  members  were,  however,  anxious  to 
enter  on  business  ;  and  knowing  that  they  could  bring 
their  majority  at  any  time  to  mould  and  control  what- 
ever might  be  done,  they  yielded  the  cjuestion  of  the 
constitution  of  the  committee  for  this  one  Parliament, 
protesting  against  the  arrangement  as  a  precedent. 

The  next  dispute  was  on  an  Act  of  indemnity.  The 
commissioner  would  have  it  take  the  form  of  a  royal 
pardon  graciously  extended  by  his  majesty  to  his  err- 
ing subjects  who  had  rebelled  against  him.  Naturally 
the  triumphant  party  repudiated  this  view  ;  they  held 
that  all  their  acts  had  been  legal,  and  it  was  merely  to 
obviate  any  further  cavilling  on  the  point  that  they 
desired  to  have  them  confirmed  by  Act  of  Parliament. 
A  crowd  of  other  disputed  projects  followed.  It  had 
been  suspected  that ,  the  king  intended  to  bring  over 
English  favourites  and  supporters  to  deal  with  his 
troublesome  subjects  in  Scotland.  It  was  proposed 
to  restrict  tlie  prerogative  right  of  conferring  honours 
on  strangers,  and  that  the  castles  of  Edinburgh, 
►Stirling,  and   Duraljarton   should  be   intrusted  to  no 


PARLIAMENT,    1640.  83 

governors  but  Scotsmen  born,  appointed  by  Act  of 
Parliament.  It  was  proposed  to  settle  in  tlie  negative 
a  disputed  right  claimed  by  the  Crown  to  fix  the 
customs  duties  payable  on  foreign  merchandise,  and  to 
limit  the  power  of  pardoning  criminals,  and  protect- 
ing debtors  from  molestation  by  their  creditors,  also 
claimed  by  the  Crown. 

The  commissioner  sent  to  Court  for  instructions. 
The  king  said  he  perceived  that  the  cause  of  their 
own  peculiar  religion  was  no  longer  the  influencing 
motive  of  the  party  in  power,  and  "  that  nothing 
would  give  them  content  but  the  alteration  of  the 
whole  frame  of  government  in  that  kingdom,  and 
withal  the  total  overthrow  of  royal  authority."  ^  The 
commissioner  was  therefore  instructed  to  adjourn  the 
Parliament  until  the  2d  of  June  1640.  The  Estates 
complied  with  the  adjournment,  protecting  themselves 
by  the  old  safeguard  of  a  protestation.  In  this  docu- 
ment, and  the  king's  defence  uttered  in  answer  to  it, 
the  characteristic  most  remarkable  to  one  accustomed 
to  the  documents  of  that  period  is  the  vague  and 
didactic  character  of  the  reasoning  on  both  sides,  and 
the  absence  of  the  close  argiiment  from  precedent  that 
is  so  satisfying  a  feature  in  the  documents  connected 
with  the  English  Long  Parliament. 

On  the  2d  of  June  1640  the  Estates  reassembled 
accordingly.  The  king  sent  from  London  instructions 
to  adjourn  or  prorogue  the  meeting.  But  the  official 
persons  whose  signatures  and  sealings  authenticated 
and  recorded  such  writs  either  would  not  or  dared  not 
act.  The  members  of  Parliament  knew,  as  people 
know  the  ucaa^s  of  the  day,  that  the  king  had  issued 

1  Gordon's  Scots  Affairs,  iii,  7J. 


84  CHARLES    I. 

such  an  instruction  ;  but  it  was  not  formally  and 
oificially  before  them,  and  did  not  enter  on  their 
records.  The  day  fixed  for  reassembling  was  on 
record,  not  the  adjournment  or  the  prohibition  to 
assemble.  At  almost  every  stejD  of  its  proceedings 
this  Parliament  takes  the  opportunity  to  state  that 
it  is  "indicted  by  his  majesty,"  or  "  convened  by  his 
majesty's  special  authority;"  and  the  restoration  of 
this  apologetic  assertion  gives  a  touch  of  the  ludicrous 
to  its  grave  proceedings.  There  was  no  commissioner 
to  represent  royalty  at  this  assemblage.  In  the  Scots 
Parliament  the  commissioner's  office  was  rather  that 
of  the  Lord  Chancellor's  in  the  House  of  Lords  of 
England,  than  the  Speaker's  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. They  elected  Kobert,  Lord  Burleigh,  "to  be 
president  of  this  meeting  of  Estates  in  Parliament," 
and  his  position  partook  both  of  the  Chancellor's  and 
the  Speaker's  in  England. 

Thus,  in  the  king's  name,  and,  technically  speak- 
ing, under  his  authority,  the  Estates  began  the  Par- 
liamentary war  with  him.  Though  small  was  the 
respect  held  by  the  English  Parliamentary  formalists 
for  the  Scots  Estates  and  their  slovenly  practice,  it 
could  not  be  but  that  the  Long  Parliament,  when  it 
found  itself  in  an  almost  parallel  difficulty,  should 
look  with  interest  to  the  course  taken  by  the  Scots. 
And  here,  as  in  several  other  instances,  Scotland  kept 
a  step  before  England  in  the  way  towards  the  great 
contest. 

The  king,  in  his  Large  Declaration,  had  announced 
a  practical  difficulty  that  must  beset  a  Parliament  with- 
out bishops.  There  were  three  Estates — the  Prelates, 
the   Barons,   and   the  Burgesses.       The   division  into 


PARLIAMENT,    1640.  85 

three  was  essential  to  the  method  of  transacting  busi- 
ness. It  was  maintained  by  some  that  nothing  could 
be  carried  in  the  Scots  Parliament  unless  there  were 
in  its  favour  a  majority  in  each  one  of  the  three 
Estates.  It  was  not  doubted  that  a  majority  in  two 
of  the  three  was  necessary.  This  made,  in  passing 
from  the  votes  of  the  individual  members  to  the  votes 
of  the  Estates,  a  majority  of  two  to  one  on  any  ques- 
tion. If  there  were  a  majority  for  the  measure  among 
the  ecclesiastics  and  the  barons,  though  the  majority 
Avere  the  other  way  among  the  burgesses,  the  collective 
vote  would  stand  two  to  one  ;  and  so  if  the  barons 
and  the  burgesses,  or  the  prelates  and  the  burgesses, 
had  majorities  in  common.  There  was  a  practical 
utility  not  to  be  lightly  sacrificed  in  the  three  cham- 
bers. It  was  the  same  utility  that  taught  the  Eomans 
to  hold  that  three  make  a  corporation.  Where  there 
are  three  there  is  a  certainty  that  every  vote  will  be 
sanctioned  by  a  majority  of  two  to  one.  Accordingly 
the  Estates  immediately  rearranged  themselves  into 
three  chambers.  The  greater  barons,  holding  seats 
by  tenure,  were  called  the  nobility ;  those  who,  like 
the  knights  of  the  shire  in  England,  represented  the 
smaller  freeholders,  were  called  "  the  barons."  The 
burgesses  were  the  third  Estate.  This  reorganisa- 
tion of  the  supreme  Legislature  was  set  forth  in 
terms  evidently  well  weighed  and  adjusted.  They 
framed  "  an  Act  anent  the  constitution  of  this  Parlia- 
ment, and  all  subsequent  Parliaments."  The  Act  be- 
gins with  a  characteristic  preamble,  how  "  the  Estates 
of  Parliament  presently  convened  by  his  majesty's 
special  authority,  considering  this  present  Parliament 
was  indicted  by  his  majesty  for  ratifying  of  such  Acts 


86  CHARLES    I. 

as  should  be  concluded  in  the  late  Assembly  of  the 
Kirk,  for  determining  all  civil  matters,  and  settling  all 
such  things  as  may  conduce  to  the  public  good  and 
peace  of  this  Kirk  and  kingdom."  The  Acts  of  the 
General  Assembly,  for  the  ratification  of  which  the 
king  had  cited  this  Parliament,  had  excluded  the 
l)ishops  from  the  Kirk ;  and,  whether  that  exclusion 
was  lawful  or  not  until  the  Estates  confirmed  it,  in 
point  of  fact  the  bishops  were  not  present,  and  the 
Estates  must  transact  business  without  them.  There- 
fore they  determine  "  this  present  Parliament,  holden 
by  the  nobility,  barons,  and  l^urgesses,  and  their 
commissioners — the  true  Estates  of  the  kingdom — to 
be  a  complete  and  perfect  Parliament,  and  to  have 
the  same  power,  authority,  and  jurisdiction  as  any 
Parliament  formally  hath  had  within  this  kingdom  in 
time  bygone.'"  ^ 

There  had  in  former  times  been  meetings  of  the 
Estates  uncountenanced  by  royalty.  We  have  seen 
that  the  Reformation  of  1560  was  carried  at  such  a 
meeting  ;  but  we  have  also  seen  that  when  the  re- 
gency of  1.567  was  established,  it  was  deemed  prudent 

1  It  would  appear  that  much  of  the  business  to  be  transacted  in  this 
Parliament  had  been  put  in  shape  before  it  was  known  that  it  would 
not  have  the  royal  countenance.  To  tlie  Record  edition  of  the  Act 
above  cited  there  is  this  note  :  "  The  waiTants  of  this  Act,  and  of  many 
of  the  subsequent  Acts  of  this  Parliament,  originally  set  forth  the 
enacting  authority  in  the  usual  style,  commencing,  '  Our  Sovereign  Lord 
and  Estates  of  Parliament.'  They  were  altered  before  the  passing  of  the 
Acts,  to  meet  the  circumstances  under  which  the  Parliament  was  then 
assembled." — Act.  Pari.,  v.  259.  In  the  superseded  Record  edition  of 
the  Acts  this  alteration  is  visible,  since  the  editor  of  that  volume  had 
only  the  warrants,  not  the  Acts,  before  him  ;  and  he  faithfully  printed 
the  erasures  and  interlineations.  I  am  indebted  to  the  courtesy  of  the 
Lord  Clerk  Register  for  tlie  use  of  the  new  edition  of  the  rescinded  Acts, 
not  yet  completed  for  jniljlication. 


PARLIAMENT,    1640.  87 

to  re-enact  the  legislation  of  that  year.  All  questions 
relating  to  the  participation  of  royalty  in  the  delibera- 
tions of  the  Estates,  and  the  necessity  of  the  royal  as- 
sent to  their  Acts,  were  surrounded  by  dubiety.  Now, 
however,  for  the  first  time,  the  Estates  defied  the  Crown. 
It  was  natural  that,  assembled  under  such  conditions, 
they  should  record  a  vindication  of  their  position. 
They  asserted  that  the  Crown  had  taken  the  first 
step  a-gainst  precedent  by  seeking  forcibly  to  bring  the 
sittings  of  1639  to  an  end,  and  that  the  Estates  them- 
selves had  shown  the  spirit  of  peace  and  conciliation 
in  agreeing  to  adjourn  when  they  Avere  not  bound  to 
do  so.^  They  had  sent  two  commissioners,  the  Lords 
Dunfermline  and  Loudon,  to  Court  to  explain  their 
position.  These  messengers  were  asked  if  they  came 
with  authority  from  the  king's  commissioner,  Traquair ; 
and  when  it  was  explained  that  they  had  no  authority 
from  him,  but  rejoresented  the  Estates  of  Scotland, 
they  were  refused  an  audience,  and  sent  back.  This 
was  deemed  an  act  of  contumely  such  as  that  great 

1  The  words  in  which  they  assert  their  constitutional  position  are 
remarkable,  and  whatever  might  be  said  for  or  against  them  on  pre- 
cedent in  Scotland,  are  not  to  be  judged  of  b}'  the  English  practice  of 
Parliament  :  "  Because,  contrary  to  our  expectation,  John,  Earl  of 
Traquair,  his  majesty's  commissioner,  did  take  upon  him,  without  con- 
sent of  the  Estates,  upon  a  jirivate  warrant  procured  by  himself  against 
his  majesty's  public  patent  under  the  great  seal,  to  prorogate  the  Parlia- 
ment to  this  second  day  of  June,  our  duty  both  to  king  and  country 
did  constrain  us  to  make  a  public  declaration  in  face  of  Parliament, 
bearing  that  the  prorogation  of  the  Parliament  without  consent  of  the 
Estates  was  against  the  laws  and  liberties  of  the  kingdom,  was  without 
precedent,  example,  and  practice  in  this  kingdom,  .  .  .  and  that 
whatsoever  we  might  have  done  by  the  laudable  example  of  our  prede- 
cessors in  the  like  exigency  and  extremity,  without  any  just  offence  to 
authority,  yet  that  our  proceedings  might  be  far  from  all  appearance  of 
giving  his  majesty  the  smallest  discontent,  we  notwithstanding  did  choose 
to  cease  for  that  time  from  our  public  proceedings  in  Parliament." 


88  CHARLES    I. 

assemblage,  the  Estates  of  the  realm,  had  never  been 
required  to  endure  at  the  hands  of  any  monarch.  But 
on  the  other  side  it  eould  be  pleaded  that  they  were 
messengers  sent  not  to  the  king  only,  and  that  they 
would  take  the  opportunity  of  their  presence  in  Lon- 
ilon  to  say  a  word  or  two  in  secret  to  the  party  in 
England  who  ^\'ere  preparing  work  for  the  Long  Par- 
liament. It  was  farther  pleaded  by  the  Estates  in 
their  justification,  that  their  reassembling  on  the  2d 
of  June  was  a  virtual  bargain  between  them  and  the 
king ;  and  it  never  yet  was  known  that  if  one  party 
to  a  bargain  failed  to  fulfil  his  part,  the  other  was 
precluded  from  carrying  out  the  arrangement  if  it 
had  the  power  to  do  so.^ 

It  was  asserted  by  the  Estates  that  everything  was 
done  on  their  part  that  could  be  done  to  keep  peace, 
while  his  majesty's  evil  advisers  were  doing  their  best 
to  foment  discord  :  "  Scandalous  relations  of  our 
Parliamentary  proceedings  have  been  made  at  the 
council-table  of  England,  and  the  benefit  of  hearing 
before  the  Council  denied  to  our  commissioners.  Great 
violence  and  outrage  done  by  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh, 
not  only  against  men  and  buildings,  but  women  and 
children.  Our  ships  and  goods  taken  at  sea,  and  the 
owners  strijjped  naked  and  barbarously  used.  A  com- 
mission given  for  sul^duing  and  destroying  of  this 
whole  kingdom.  All  things  devised  and  done  that 
may  make  a  rupture  and  irreconcilable  war  betwixt 
the  two  kingdoms.      Our  commissioners  hardly  used 

'  Tlie  Estates  in  their  justification  said  tlie  commissioner  has  assured 
thein  that  the  king  would  keep  his  "  royal  promise,"  and  seemed  "  to  be 
so  far  from  judging  it  unlawful  to  us  to  jjroceed  at  the  day  appointed, 
in  case  we  should  be  postponed  and  frustrated  by  new  prorogations,  that 
he  made  often  and  open  profession  that  he  would  join  witli  us  therein." 


PARLIAMENT,    1640.  89 

while  they  were  in  England  by  restraints  put  upon 
them,  and  the  Lord  Loudon  still  imprisoned.  No 
answer  given  unto  them  or  returned  unto  us  touching 
our  just  demands,  but  in  place  thereof  a  declaration 
given  out  denouncing  war,  and  provoking  the  other 
two  kingdoms  to  come  against  us  as  traitors  and 
rebels.  And  when  we  had  patiently  endured  all  these 
evils  in  hopes  of  some  better  news  at  this  2d  of  June, 
appointed  for  sitting  of  the  Parliament,  hearing  no- 
thing from  his  majesty  or  his  majesty's  commissioner, 
either  to  settle  this  kingdom  according  to  the  articles 
of  pacification,  or  to  interrupt  our  proceedings;"  there- 
fore, for  acquitting  themselves  of  the  great  trust  com- 
mitted to  them,  "  and  for  preventing  the  utter  ruin 
and  desolation  of  this  Kirk  and  kingdom,"  they  are 
constrained  in  the  great  exigency  to  abide  together 
until  the  business  before  them  is  completed.^ 

Before  beginning  with  their  legislative  business,  the 
Estates  indorsed  the  Assembly's  testimony  against  the 
Large  Declaration,  finding  it  "  to  be  dishonourable  to 
God  and  His  true  religion,  to  this  Kirk  and  kingdom, 
to  the  king's  majesty  and  to  the  Marquis  of  Hamilton, 
then  his  majesty's  commissioner,  and  divers  other 
persons  therein,  and  to  be  full  of  lies."  And  they 
ordained  "  the  authors  and  spreaders  thereof  to  be 
most  severely  punished,  according  to  the  laws  of  this 
kingdom  against  leasing- makers  betwixt  the  king's 
majesty  and  his  subjects,  slanderers  of  the  king  and 
kingdom,  and  raisers  of  sedition  and  discord  between 
them ;  that  all  others  may  be  deterred  from  such  dan- 
gerous courses,  God's  honour  may  be  vindicated,  the 
innocency  of  the  Kirk  and  kingdom,  and  his  majesty's 

1  Act.  Pari.,  Revised  Record  Edit.,  v.  256,  257. 


90  CHARLES    I. 

justice  and  goodness  may  appear  not  only  in  censuring 
such  malefactors,  but  in  discouraging  all  such  under- 
miners  of  his  majesty's  throne,  and  abusers  of  his 
royal  name,  by  prefixing  the  same  to  such  scandalous 
and  dishonourable  treatises."  ^ 

The  Estates  confirmed  the  proceedings  of  the  As- 
sembly, and  adopted  the  Covenant  as  an  Act,  requir- 
ing all  citizens  to  subscribe  it  under  civil  penalties 
against  defaulters.  They  began  the  application  of  this 
test  with  themselves,  requiring  that  each  member  of 
the  Estates  should  subscribe  it,  all  who  failed  to  do  so 
being  disqualified  to  sit  and  vote — a  rule  to  apply  to  all 
subsequent  meetings  of  the  Estates.  They  facilitated 
the  importation  of  arms,  and  organised  a  system  of 
taxation  in  which  defaulters  were  to  be  treated  as 
"  non-Covenanters."  They  passed  an  Act  establishing 
triennial  Parliaments.  Arrangements  were  made  for 
the  distribution  of  the  vacated  revenues  of  the  bishops, 
and  the  other  secular  rights  affected  by  the  depositions 
passed  by  the  Asseml)ly.  Care  was  had  formally  to 
ratify  all  things,  whether  of  a  civil  or  a  military  char- 
acter, in  furtherance  of  tlie  Covenanting  cause,  and 
to  denounce  as  illegal  all  things  done  on  the  other 
side.  A  distinct  infusion  of  Puritanical  spirit  is  vis- 
ible in  this  Parliament  in  the  matter  of  legislation 
for  Sabbath  observance. 

Before  separating,  they  passed  what  afterwards 
proved  to  be  among  the  most  important  of  their  Acts. 
It  appointed  a  permanent  "  Committee  of  Estates  "  to 
act  when  Parliament  was  not  sitting.  It  consisted  of 
so  many  from  each  of  the  three  Estates,  according  to 
the  new  division.     This  powerful  body  was  compact 

'  Act.  Pari.,  Revised  Record  Edit.,  v.  264. 


DEALINGS  WITH  FRANCE,  1639-40.       91 

and  movable,  and  was  to  act  "  in  the  camp  "  as  well 
as  at  the  seat  of  Government.  Having  sat  till  the 
11th  of  June,  the  Estates  adjourned  till  November. 

In  their  vindication  allusion  was  made  to  the  deten- 
tion in  prison  of  the  Earl  of  Loudon.  This  arose  out 
of  a  transaction  which  calls  for  notice.  The  politi- 
cal relations  between  England  and  France  had  become 
precarious  and  lowering.  The  chief  interest  which  af- 
fected England  abroad  at  that  time  concerned  not  the 
nation  but  the  royal  family — it  was  the  position  of 
the  king's  sister,  the  newly-widowed  wife  of  the  Elec- 
tor Palatine,  and  of  her  son,  the  heir  to  the  fortunes 
and  misfortunes  of  that  house.  England  could  not  be 
got  to  join  France  and  the  northern  powers  against 
Austria  and  Spain,  and  the  reason  of  this  was  said 
to  be  that  Charles  was  persuaded  that  he  had  more 
to  hope  for  the  Palatinate  from  these  two  powers  than 
from  France.  Richelieu,  indeed,  had  struck  a  strong 
and  very  offensive  blow  in  seizing  the  young  Prince 
Palatine  as  he  passed  through  France  in  disguise  ;  it 
was  said  that  he  was  on  his  way  to  the  Duke  of  Wei- 
mar, as  the  bearer  of  proffers  to  induce  that  dealer  in 
mercenary  troops  to  transfer  his  contingent  from  the 
service  of  France  to  that  of  Austria.  It  was  just  at 
this  time  that,  by  an  intercepted  letter.  King  Charles 
found  that  the  Scots  Covenanters  were  seeking  aid 
from  the  King  of  France.  The  documents  show  that 
those  concerned  in  this  negotiation  were  Montrose, 
Rothes,  Leslie  the  genera].  Mar,  Montgomery,  and 
Loudon.^     A  certain  "William  Colville  was  accredited 

'  One  of  the  original  papei-s  still  exists  in  the  Wodrow  collection  of 
the  Advocates'  Library.  The  signature  of  "A.  Leslie"  has  invited 
curiosity,  because  it  was  a  Cavalier  tradition  that  he  was  so  illiterate  as 


92  CHARLES    I. 

to  tlie  French  Court  to  negotiate  the  affair.  It  has 
been  supposed  that  it  went  no  farther  than  the  draft- 
ing of  the  proposals,  and  that  they  never  reached 
France.  But  a  recent  French  historian  has  found 
documents,  on  his  own  country's  side  of  the  negotia- 
tion, much  more  full  in  explanation  of  it  than  the  few 
preserved  in  Britain.^  These  proffers  came  to  no 
practical  result,  because  the  Scots  Covenanters  found 
in  England  better  friends  than  France  could  by  any 
possibility  give  them.  Had  it  been  that  a  conquering 
and  oppressing  English  army  was  to  march  over  Scot- 
land, the  landing  of  French  troops  in  the  country 
would  have  been  a  natural  event.  The  scenes  change, 
however,  so  rapidly  in  their  display  of  new  political 
conditions,  that  while  the  French  ambassador  in  Eng- 
land is  perplexed  about  the  question  whether  the 
seizure  there  of  Colville  on  his  way  to  France  should 
be  resented,  and  about  the  intercourse  to  be  held  with 
the  English  malcontents  as  a  means  of  annoying  the 
Government,  he  has  to  turn  suddenly  to  the  considera- 
te be  unable  either  to  write  or  read.  Lord  Hailes,  who  rarely  indulges 
in  pleasantries,  says  ;  "  It  is  reported  that  once  upon  a  march,  passing 
by  a  house,  he  said,  '  There  is  the  house  where  I  was  taught  to  read.' 
'How,  General!'  said  one  of  his  attendants  ;  '  I  thought  that  you  had 
never  been  taught  to  read.'  '  Pardon  me,'  cried  lie  ;  'I  got  the  length 
of  the  letter  G.' " — Memorials  and  Letters,  Charles  L,  61.  There  are 
letters  from  him,  in  a  fair  hand  of  the  day,  in  the  Lothian  Papers. 

^  Eelations  du  Cardinal  de  Richeliea  avec  les  Ecossois  Covenantaires 
et  le  Parlement  d'Angleterre  ;  Mazure,  Histoire  de  la  Revolution  de 
1688  en  Angleterre,  iii.  402.  Tlie  author  of  this  book  notes  with  some 
surprise  how  little  foreknowledge  there  was  in  the  wise  Richelieu  of 
the  consequences  of  helping  to  make  the  precedent  for  subjects  resisting 
their  sovereign :  "  Ces  documents  suflSsent  sans  doute  pour  montrer  sous 
quel  point  de  vue  le  Cardinal  de  Richelieu  consideroit  les  troubles  de 
I'Angleterre.  II  ]i'y  voyoit  pas  la  question  de  la  royaute  en  peril,  mais 
la  question  des  interets  de  I'Autriche,  auxquelles  la  Reine-niere  et  la 
Rcine  d'Angleterre  etoient  devouees." — P.  428. 


DEALINGS    WITH    FRANCE,    1639-40.  93 

tion  of  a  new  alarm  prevailing  in  the  Parliamentary 
party — the  alarm  that  King  Charles  is  to  get  assist- 
ance from  a  French  army  to  establish  despotic  au- 
thority over  England. 

The  overture  of  men  standing  forth  for  civil  liberty 
and  the  Presbyterian  Covenant  to  a  despot  and  a  Papist, 
caused  on  its  discovery  much  odium,  which  has  ac- 
companied it  into  later  times.     But  this  odium  arose 
on  an  English  view  of  the  affair.     It  was  high  treason, 
as  Clarendon  said,  for  subjects  to  treat  with  a  foreign 
prince  against  their  sovereign.     No  doubt  it  was  so  in 
England;  but,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Estates  in  Scotland 
held  tenaciously  to  foreign  diplomacy,  with  the  estab- 
lishing of  peace  or  war,  as  a  power  of  their  own  not 
deputed  to  the  sovereign;  and  though  the  diplomatists 
.  in  this  instance  had  not  an  Act  of  the  Estates  to  justify 
them,  they  knew  that  they  were  doing  what  the  Estates 
would  confirm.     Then,  their  appeal  was  to  that  ancient 
league  with  France  which  had  never  been  solemnly 
revoked.     Look  at  the  issue  between  England  and 
Scotland  as  it  stood  at  the  moment.     No  doubt  the 
king  had  professed  to  abandon  several  of  the  points 
on  which  the  quarrel  had  arisen.     But  every  practical 
political   man  knew  then,   and  every  student  of  the 
times  knows  now,  that  had  King  Charles  led  a  vic- 
torious  English  army  over   Scotland,   he  would  have 
enforced  on  the  country  the  Prelacy,  the  Service-book, 
the  Canons,  and  the  High  Commission,   and   that  he 
would  have  curtailed  the  power  of  the  States  and 
raised  the  royal  prerogative  above  it. 

Hence  it  was  the  old  story  of  the  peril,  and  the 
appeal  to  the  friend  who  had  ever  been  prompt  in 
time  of  peril.     The  English  Crown  having  established 


94  CHARLES    I. 

tyrannical  prerogatives  and  offensive  observances  in 
England,  was  sending  an  army  into  Scotland  to  sub- 
due the  country  and  break  its  free  inhabitants  to  the 
same  rule.  France  could  not  forget  that  bloody  field 
in  which,  when  all  seemed  lost,  these  sturdy  Scots  had 
turned  the  tide  against  the  same  proud  enemy.  She 
could  not  forget  how,  for  this  and  many  another  act  of 
heroic  kindness,  she  had  reciprocated  by  effective  help 
at  that  terrible  crisis  when  the  conquest  designed  by 
Henry  VIII.  in  his  tyrannic  fury  seemed  coming  to  its 
completion.  Here,  again,  was  a  like  peril — would  their 
friends  of  old  be  still  their  old  friends  ?  In  this  light 
the  appeal  of  the  Covenanters  to  the  Government  of 
France  was  not  to  be  counted  as  if  a  crew  of  factious 
fanatics  sought  to  further  their  rebellion  against  their 
king  and  master  by  those  who  were  the  enemies  of 
both,  but  most  of  all  the  enemies  of  themselves.  It 
was  the  restrengthening  of  a  bond  that  had  been 
weakened,  not  broken  —  a  resuscitation  of  an  old 
loyal  friendship  which  had  softened  with  a  touch 
of  chivalry  the  selfish  politics  and  cruel  wars  of 
feudal  Europe. 

Perhaps  they  toned  their  appeal  somewhat  to  suit 
foreign  ears,  when  they  said,  as  they  did,  that  the  Court 
of  High  Commission  dealt  forth  tyranny  and  cruelty 
unequalled  by  the  Inquisition  in  SjDain.  But  they 
repeated  only  what  they  never  swerved  from  at  home 
when  they  asserted  their  loyalty,  saying  that  "  our  in- 
tentions are  no  way  against  monarchical  government, 
but  that  we  are  most  loyally  disposed  towards  our 
sacred  sovereign,  whose  personal  authority  we  will 
maintain  with  our  lives  and  fortunes  ;  but  that  all  our 
desires  reach  no  farther  than  the  preservation  of  our 


DEALINGS    WITH    FRANCE,    1639-40.  95 

religion  and  liberty  of  Church  and  kingdom  established 
by  the  laws  and  constitution  thereof." 

It  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  the  English  of 
that  day  could  see  the  matter  in  this  view,  yet  the 
Government  Avent  so  far  in  the  opposite  direction  as 
to  commit  one  of  the  most  dangerous  pieces  of  folly 
committed  in  that  period  of  blunders.     The  "  Short 
Parliament "  began  with  a  denunciation  of  the  Scots 
in   strong    terms   as  traitors    and   rebels.      The   king 
founded  sadly  fallacious  hopes  on  the  effect  of  produc- 
ing in  that  assembly  the  letters  to  France,  and,  as  the 
chief  object  of  holding  a  Parliament,  demanded  a  large 
and  immediate  subsidy  to  provide  for  the  war.     The 
Commons,  however,  voted  grievances  before  supplies, 
and  the  great  charge  of  a  treasonable  correspondence 
with  a  foreign  enemy  passed  unnoticed  out  of  sight. 
But  a  worse  thing  was  done.     We  have  seen  that  the 
Lords  Dunfermline  and  Loudon,  when  they  went  to 
Court  after  the  Parliament  of  1639,  were  sent  away 
without  a  hearing.     They  were  permitted  to  return, 
or,  as  it  was  said,  ordered  up  to  make  explanations  ; 
and  when  they  were  in  attendance,  Loudon  was  seized 
as  one  whose  name  was  at  the  appeal  to  France,  and 
committed  to  the  Tower.      Loudon  said  he  had  his 
pleas,  which  he  was  prepared  to  urge  were  he  brought 
to  trial  in  Scotland,  but  he  could  not  be  arraigned  in 
England  for  his  conduct  as  a  Scottish  subject.      No 
doubt,  sending  him  to  Scotland  for  trial  was  equiva- 
lent to  releasing  him,  but  not  the  less  would  it  be  a 
national  outrage  to  deal  Avith  him  in  England.     There 
were  whispers  that  he  was  to  be  put  to  death  without 
trial,  as  an  enemy  found  in  the  position  of  a  spy ;  and 
even  this,  though  it  might  seem  the  harsher  and  more 


g6  CHARLES    I. 

barl)arous  fate,  would  scarce  have  been  so  deep  a  na- 
tional insult  as  putting  a  Scots  statesman  on  trial  in 
England  for  his  actions  in  his  own  country.  "  There 
were,"  says  Burnet,  "some  ill  instruments  about  the 
king  who  advised  him  to  proceed  capitally  against 
Loudon,  which  is  believed  went  very  far  ;  but  the 
marquis  opposed  this  vigorously,  assuring  the  king 
that  if  that  were  done  Scotland  was  for  ever  lost." 
The  end  was  that  Loudon  was  released  untouched. 
AVe  are  not  told  the  reason  why  the  policy  on  which 
he  was  imprisoned  was  thus  dropped ;  but  the  affair 
was  one  of  the  many  in  Avhich  the  unfortunate  mon- 
arch secured  all  that  harvest  of  rancour  that  follows 
on  a  blow  without  having  the  satisfaction  of  dealing  it.^ 
ThoiTgh  this  affair  does  not  hold  a  large  place  in 
the  usual  histories  of  the  civil  war,  it  was  one  of  the 
turning  -  points  by  which  great  conclusions  were 
reached.  According  to  Clarendon,  it  determined  the 
king  and  his  immediate  advisers  to  call  a  Parliament. 
To  meet  the  cost  of  a  war  both  with  France  and  Scot- 
land there  was  no  other  possible  resource.  Then  the 
defence  of  England  from  a  joint  invasion  of  the  French 
and  Scots  was  a  far  more  hopeful  cry  than  the  policy 
of  sending  an  army  to  punish  the  pertinacious  Scots. 

^  Claremlon  makes  one  of  his  picturesqvie  mysteries  out  of  the  "strat- 
agem," as  he  calls  the  release  of  Loudon  :  "  This  stratagem  was  never 
understood,  and  was  then  variously  spoken  of,  many  believing  he  had 
undertaken  great  matters  for  the  king  in  Scotland,  and  to  quiet  that  dis- 
temper. .  .  .  They  who  published  their  thoughts  least  made  no 
scruple  of  saying  'that  if  the  policy  were  good  an<l  necessary  of  his  first 
commitment,  it  seemed  as  just  and  prudent  to  have  continued  him  in 
that  restraint.' " — Vol.  i.  144.  Lord  Northumberland,  -writing  to  Lord 
Conway,  says  :  "  The  enlargement  of  Lord  Loudon  causes  a  belief  here  in 
the  world  that  we  shall  come  to  terms  of  accommodation  with  the  Scots, 
but  seriously  I  do  not  know  that  any  such  thing  is  intended." — Bruce's 
Notes,  xix. 


POSITION    OF    ENGLAND,    1640.  97 

We  are  told  by  Clarendon,  that  instantly  on  the  dis- 
covery of  the  Scots  appeal  to  France,  the  king  "  first 
advised  with  that  committee  of  the  Council  which 
used  to  be  consulted  on  secret  affairs,  what  was  to  be 
done."  The  conclave  thought  a  Parliament  so  urgent 
a  necessity  that  on  the  same  day  the  instruction  was 
issued  by  the  king  in  Council  to  the  Lord-Keeper  to 
issue  the  writs.^  These  brouo;ht  together  the  "  Short 
Parliament"  on  the  3d  of  April  1640  ;  but  that  day's 
work  in  Council  ended  in  the  assembling  of  the  Long- 
Parliament. 

It  would  be  a  satisfaction  to  have  a  fuller  account 
than  the  ordinary  histories  afford  of  the  condition  and 
temper  of  England  during  the  short  interval  between 
the  two  Parliaments.  The  latest  voice  from  England 
on  this  point  says  :  "  What  that  condition  really  was, 
what  the  state  of  mind  of  the  English  people  in  1640 
towards  the  king,  the  Government,  and  the  Scots,  and 
with  reference  to  the  then  passing  public  events,  is  a 
question  of  the  deepest  historical  interest,"  since  "  the 
treaty  of  Ripon  cannot  be  understood  without  some 
knowledge  upon  this  subject  far  different  from  that 
which  can  be  acquired  from  the  ordinary  authorities."  ^ 
I  feel,  as  this  author  said,  in  reference  to  his  own  pro- 
vince, that  the  question  "  requires  for  its  proper 
answer  freer  scope  and  a  wider  compass  "  than  it  can 
obtain  in  a  history  of  Scotland.    It  belongs  essentially  to 

1  Clarendon,  ed.  1705,  i.  130,  131  ;  ed.  1843, p.  53.  That  "committee 
wliicli  used  to  be  consulted  on  secret  affairs  "  is  the  germ  of  the  modern 
"  Cabinet." 

^  Notes  of  the  Treaty  carried  on  at  Ripon  between  King  Charles  I. 
and  the  Covenanters  of  Scotland,  a.d.  1640,  taken  by  Sir  .John  Borough, 
Garter  King-of-Arms.  Edited  from  the  original  MS.  in  the  possession 
of  Lieutenant  -  Colonel  Carew,  by  John  Bruce,  Esq.,  E.S.A.  Camden 
Society.     Preface,  p.  viii. 

VOL.  VII.  a 


98  CHARLES    I. 

the  history  of  England  ;  and  it  is  there  that  it  should  be 
Avritten,  so  that  the  investigator  in  the  peculiar  region 
of  Scottish  history  should  be  able  to  refer  to  it  as  finally 
adjusted  and  accepted  by  the  English  historians.     As 
the  matter  stands,  let  us  note  what  is  to  be  readily 
found  about  the  condition  and  temper  of  England  at 
that  time.      It  was  shown  by  the  Short  Parliament 
itself,  and  more  emphatically  afterwards,  that  it  was 
something    very  different  from   that  sunny  prospect 
which,  according  to  Clarendon,  soothed  the  king  into 
an  endurance  of  a  thing  so  detested  as  a  Parliament : 
"  This  long  intermission,  and  the  general  composure  of 
men's  minds  in  a  happy  peace  and  universal  plenty 
over  the  nation — superior,  sure,  to  what  any  other  na- 
tion ever  enjoyed — made  it  reasonably  be  believed,  not- 
withstanding the  miirmurs  of  the  people  against  some 
exorbitancies  of  the  Court,  that  sober  men,  and  such 
as  loved  the  peace  and  plenty  they  were  possessed  of, 
would  be  made  choice  of  to  serve  in  the  House  of 
Commons ;  and  then  the  temjaer  of  the  House  of  Peers 
was  not  to   be  apprehended."     A  farther  propitious 
feature  of  the  times  was  "the  prejudice  and  general 
aversion  over  the  whole  kingdom  to  the  Scots ;  and 
the  indignation  they  had  at  their  presumption  in  their 
thought  of  invading  England,  made  it  believed  that  a 
Parliament  would  express  a  very  sharp  sense  of  their 
insolence  and  carriage  towards  the  king,  and  provide 
remedies  proportionable."  ^ 

The  organisation  for  collecting  ship  -  money  and 
other  feudal  dues  had  been  made  so  comj^lete  and 
commanding  as  to  gather  into  the  Exchequer  all  the 
money  that  could  by  any  available  interpretation  of 

1  History,  i.  130  ;  ed.  184,3,  p.  53. 


POSITION    OF    ENGLAND,    1640.  99 

the  law  come  within  those  imposts.  The  revenue 
from  them  seemed  sufficient  to  sustain  the  Court  and 
Grovernment  in  time  of  peace,  but  when  war  approached 
more  was  wanted.  This  more  \vas  to  be  obtained 
through  a  Parliament ;  but  the  Parliament  was  dis- 
solved before  it  gave  anything,  and  the  effect  of  its 
discussions  and  abrupt  dismissal  appears  to  have  been 
seriously  to  weaken  the  machinery  for  collecting  the 
feudal  dues,  and  to  shake  the  credit  of  the  Government 
with  the  moneyed  world.^  The  result  is  described  by 
one  on  whom  heavy  responsibility  lay — the  Earl  of 
Northumberland,  who  was  to  command  the  army  of 
the  north  :  "  Most  of  the  ways  that  were  relied  on 
for  supplies  of  money  have  hitherto  failed  us,  and  for 
aught  I  know  we  are  likely  to  become  the  most  de- 

'  This  view,  and  the  others  following  in  the  text,  are  founded  on  the 
passages  from  record  authorities  furnished  by  Mr  Bruce  as  examples  of 
the  information  available  to  the  English  historian.  For  instance,  the 
Sheriff  of  Hereford  explains  that,  "  upon  notice  of  the  late  Parliament, 
many  of  the  chief-constables  refused  to  levy  the  ship-money  or  come 
before  the  examinant "  (xii.)  The  Sheriff  of  Derby  says  :  "  I  find  such 
opposition  and  evil-affectedness  in  the  greatest  part  of  the  county,  that 
since  the  dissolution  of  the  last  Parliament  they  do  not  forbear  to  dare 
me,  and  bid  me  distrain  at  my  peril,  giving  forth  threatening  words 
against  me"  (xiv.)  The  Sheriff  of  Cornwall  finds  that  "the  constables 
make  a  very  small  return  of  ship-money;  and  when  tliey  distrain,  very 
few  would  buy  any  of  the  goods,  so  that  for  want  of  pasture  they  were 
forced  to  return  the  cattle  distrained  to  their  owners  again."  The  Sheriff 
of  Cambridge  reports  that  "in  the  execution  of  the  .ship-money  writ  at  Mel- 
bourne his  bailiffs  were  assaulted  by  more  than  one  hundred  of  the  in- 
habitants, five  or  six  of  them  grievously  beaten,  and  all  of  them  hardly 
escaping  with  their  lives.  The  men  dared  not  again  go  about  that  or 
any  other  business  of  his  majesty  ;  and  svich  was  the  opposition  in  divers 
other  parts  of  the  county,  that  the  sherifl'  could  not  go  through  the  ser- 
vice unless  course  were  taken  for  suppressing  such  insurrections  "  (xvii.) 
The  Sheriff  of  Oxford  said  that  "wherever  he  came  constables  could 
not  be  found  at  home  ;  gates  were  chained,  locked,  or  barricaded ;  all 
officers  refused  to  assist  him,  and  the  county  would  not  pay  but  by  dis- 
tress "  (xix.) 


100  CHARLES    I. 

spised  nation  of  Europe.  To  the  regiments  that  are 
now  rising,  we,  for  want  of  money,  have  been  able  to 
advance  but  fourteen  days'  pay — the  rest  must  meet 
them  upon  their  march  towards  Selby,  and  for  both 
the  horse  and  foot  already  in  the  north  we  can  for 
the  present  send  them  but  seven  days'  pay."  ^  A 
disinclination  to  render  obedience  to  the  Commission 
of  Array  seconded  the  unwillingness  to  submit  to  the 
feudal  exactions.  Whether  from  the  sorry  prospect  of 
pay,  or  distaste  for  the  service,  those  who  were  con- 
sidered liable  to  serve  in  the  army  resisted  the  con- 
scription ;  and  when  embodied,  they  were  often  so 
mutinous  as  to  be  more  dangerous  to  their  officers  than 
they  were  likely  to  be  to  the  enemy.  ^ 

It  is  significant  of  what  was  passing  through  the 
minds  of  some  of  these  men  al30ut  events  in  England, 
and  the  reference  of  these  to  the  service  for  wliicli 


'  Ibid.,  xix. 

^  Northumberland  says,  with  the  eloquence  of  desperation  :  "  The  city 
of  London,  Kent,  Surrey,  Essex,  Hertfordshire,  Buckingham,  and  Bed- 
fordshire are  so  damnably  restive  that  I  doubt  we  shall  not  get  near  our 
number  of  men  from  these  places  ;  the  rest  of  the  counties  I  hope  will 
do  reasonable  well  in  raising  their  men  "  (xv.)  Certain  deputy-lieuten- 
ants coming  to  Bungay  on  press  duty,  say  :  "  The  soldiers  fell  into  a  mu- 
tiny, threatening  our  deaths,  beset  us  in  our  chamber,  tept  a  watch  upon 
our  horses,  and  waylaid  us  so  as  we  were  enforced  to  keep  our  chambers" 
(xv.)  It  is  reported  of  six  hundred  conscripts  from  Dorsetshire,  passing 
through  Farringdon,  in  Berkshire,  "  they  in  a  barbarous  manner  murdered 
Lieutenant  Mahon,  one  of  their  company,  and  have  threatened  the  rest 
of  their  commanders  to  put  them  to  the  sword,  insomuch  that  they  are 
all  fled  ;  and  the  soldiers  being  now  at  liberty,  in  probaliility  will  much 
endanger  the  town  and  the  country  adjoining."  While  Northumberland 
writes  to  Conway  :  "  Our  troops  are  upon  their  march  from  some  of  the 
coimties,  but  I  hear  that  they  run  so  fast  away  that  scarce  half  the  num- 
ber will  appear  at  the  rendezvous  in  the  north  "  (xvi.)  Conway,  writ- 
ing to  Secretary  Windbanli,  puts  this  epigrammatic  point  to  the  whole 
wretched  affair  :  "  I  fear  unpaid  soldiers  more  than  I  do  the  Scots  and 
the  devil  to  boot.     God  keep  you  from  all  three  !  "  (xxiv.) 


POSITION    OF    ENGLAND,    1640.  lOI 

they  were  raised,  that  one  cause  of  dangerous  humours 
arising  among  them  seems  to  have  been  a  suspicion  of 
Popish  tendencies  in  their  officers.^ 

It  appears  that  among  the  practices  for  which  these 
troops  were  troublesome  was  the  destruction  of  those 
ecclesiastical  decorations  which  associated  the  innovat- 
ing party  in  the  Church  with  Popery.  They  seemed 
to  be  influenced  by  a  desire  to  leave  behind  them 
in  this  shape  a  protest,  that  in  marching  against  the 
Presbyterians  in  Scotland,  they  were  not  to  be  under- 
stood as  fighting  the  battle  of  Laud  and  his  party.^ 

■■  At  Marlborough  it  is  reported  of  the  company  under  the  command 
of  Captain  Drury,  that  suspecting  him  of  Popery,  they  suggested  that 
all  should  take  the  sacrament — according  to  the  form  of  the  Church  of 
England,  it  is  to  be  presumed :  "  The  captain  showing  little  inclination 
to  that  motion,  at  least  for  his  own  receiving,  the  soldiers  pressed  him  so 
much  the  more  to  it ;  and  when  they  perceived  he  would  not,  they  told 
him  plainly,  if  so  be  he  will  not  receive  the  communion,  and  jiray  with 
them,  they  will  not  fight  under  him ;  and  in  this  manner  they  cashiered 
their  captain"  (xv.)  An  officer  writing  from  Cirencester,  saj's:  "The 
Puritan  rascals  of  the  country  had  strongly  possessed  the  soldiers  that 
all  the  commanders  of  our  regiment  were  Papists,  so  that  I  was  forced 
for  two  or  three  days  to  sing  psahns  all  the  day  I  marched,  for  all  their 
religion  lies  in  a  psalm"  (xxii.)  Other  instances  were  more  tragic,  as  in 
the  report  by  the  deputy-Ueu-tenants  of  Devon  on  the  fate  of  Captain 
Evers  at  the  hands  of  his  own  company:  "  Forbearing  to  go  to  church, 
they  suspected  him  to  be  a  Pap)ist,  whereupon  they  set  upon  him  and 
murdered  him."  "  On  endeavoui-ing  to  arrest  four  of  them,  above 
twenty  others  came  forward  declaring  that  they  were  all  equally  guUty, 
and  if  they  would  hang  one  they  should  hang  all"  (xx.) 

^  Lord  Maynard  reports  to  the  Council  that  "  the  insolences  of  the 
soldiers  billeted  in  Essex  every  day  increase.  Within  these  few  days 
they  have  taken  upon  them  to  reform  churches,  and  even  in  tlie  time 
of  divine  service  to  pull  do^vn  the  rails  about  the  communion-tables." 
Lord  Warwick  reports  to  Secretary  Vane  an  outrage  of  this  kind  attended 
by  peculiar  ingratitude :  "  Dr  Barkham,  parson  of  Bocking,  having  given 
the  soldiers  a  barrel  of  beer  and  fifty  shillings,  I  found  them  much  dis- 
tempered by  drink ;  and  in  that  distemper  they  went  to  his  church  and 
pulled  up  the  rails  about  the  communion-table,  and  brought  these  before 
their  captain's  lodging  and  l)Urnt  them.  The  like  they  did  to  another 
town  near  thereunto"  (xxiii.) 


I02  CHARLES    I. 

The  one  ray  of  hope  through  these  difficulties  was 
in  itself  also  of  a  dismal  and  desperate  character.  It 
was  that  the  Scots  mioiit  be  worse  off  than  themselves, 
and  so  be  routed  and  conquered  before  a  close  con- 
test should  show  the  weakness  of  the  English  army. 
Northumberland  casts  aside  his  difficulties  of  detail 
about  fortified  posts  by  the  general  reflection  :  "  But 
we  are  going  upon  a  conquest  with  such  a  power,  that 
nothing  in  that  kingdom  will  be  able  to  resist  us."^ 

A  point  of  extreme  interest  is  naturally  sought  out 
through  every  scrap  of  internal  information  about 
England  at  that  time.  To  what  extent  had  the  Scots, 
who  began  the  great  civil  war,  an  understanding  or 
alliance  with  the  English  Parliamentary  party  at  this 
juncture?  As  the  question  might  have  been  otherwise 
put  at  the  time,  how  far  had  the  rebels  in  Scotland 
made  practical  arrangements  with  their  accomplices 
in  England  1  Rumours  were  accepted  here  and  con- 
tradicted there  about  a  bond  of  co-operation  with  the 
Scots,  signed  by  sixty-three  men  of  note  in  the  Parlia- 
mentary party.  Burnet,  in  one  of  his  circumstantial 
stories,  tells  how,  when  Dunfermline  and  Loudon  were 
in  London,  the  Lord  Saville  dealt  with  them  in  the 
name  of  the  chiefs  of  the  party,  and  showed  a  written 
obligation  signed  by  some  of  them  to  co-operate  with 
the  Scots,  if  they  would  march  into  England.  This 
was  sent  to  Scotland  by  a  confidential  messenger,  who 
concealed  it  in  a  hollowed  walking-stick,  and  travelled 
as  a  pedlar.  It  Avas  to  be  shown  only  to  Argyle, 
Warriston,  and  Henderson.  The  document  was  spu- 
rious, and  the  signatures  to  it  were  all  forged  by 
Saville.     In  completing  the  story  from  the  authorities 

'  Ibid.,  viii. 


POSITION    OF    ENGLAND,    1640.  103 

of  the  period,  the  exposure  of  the  forgery  makes  a 
dramatic  scene.  At  the  treaty  of  Eipon  the  Scots 
reproach  those  who,  after  having  invited  them  into 
England,  instead  of  entering  on  mutual  confidences, 
treated  them  as  strangers.  They  denied  the  invita- 
tion, and  Saville  had  to  act  the  part  of  the  detected 
forger.  But  this  will  not  harmonise  with  another 
revelation,  which,  professing  to  give  the  papers  that 
passed  between  the  Scots  and  the  Parliamentary 
leaders,  imports  that  the  Scots  distinctly  asked  for 
assistance,  and  that  it  was  as  distinctly  refused, 
although  the  refusal  was  so  toned  as  to  show  a  sym- 
pathy in  their  cause,  and  an  anticipation  that  it  might 
become  the  common  cause  of  both  countries.^ 

^  The  story  is  told  in  Burnet's  '  Summary  of  Affairs  before  the  Restor- 
ation.' He  gives  it  a  circumstantial  air  by  talking  of  Warriston,  one  of 
the  parties  to  it,  as  his  own  uncle.  Clarendon  mentions  it  generally  as 
one  of  the  suspicions  connected  with  Saville's  evil  reputation.  The 
scene  at  Ripon  is  given  in  Nalson's  Collection  (ii.  427),  "out  of  the 
Memoirs  of  the  late  Earl  of  Manchester,  then  Lord  Mandeville,  an  actor 
in  this  affair."  The  opening  of  the  scene  is  thus  :  "  When  the  Scotch 
commissioners  had  passed  the  ceremonies  and  general  civilities  of  the 
first  meeting  with  the  English  commissioners,  the  Lord  Loudoun  and 
Sir  Archibald  Johnston  applied  themselves  particularly  to  the  Lord 
Mandeville,  desiring  him  to  give  them  a  private  meeting,  that  they  might 
impart  to  him  something  of  near  concernment  to  himself  and  others  the 
lords  then  present.  This  was  readily  granted ;  and  they  then  went  to 
the  Lord  Mandeville's  lodging,  where  being  set  together,  the  Lord  Lou- 
doun began  with  very  severe  expostulations,  charging  the  Earls  of  Bedford, 
Essex,  and  Warwick,  the  Lord  Yiscount  Say  and  Scale,  the  Lord  Brook, 
Saville,  and  himself,  with  the  highest  breach  of  their  promises  and  en- 
gagements, professing  that  they  had  never  invaded  England  but  upon 
confidence  of  their  keeping  faith  with  them,  according  to  those  articles 
which  they  had  signed  and  sent  unto  them."  Then  comes  the  explosion. 
The  doubts  that  any  such  affair  ever  occured  are  strengthened  by  the 
absence  of  any  reference  to  it  in  Mr  Bruce's  Ripon  Papers.  The  sup- 
position that  there  had  been  a  real  invitation  to  the  Scots  connects 
itself  with  another  matter.  This  Lord  Mandeville  is  the  same  Lord 
Kimbolton  who  was  impeached  along  with  "  the  five  members ;"  and 
one  of  the  articles  of  impeachment  was,  "  That  they  have  traitorously 


104  CHARLES    I. 

That  the  Scots  acted  on  an  invitation  from  England, 
whether  genuine  or  spurious,  is  unnecessary  to  the 
conformity  of  events,  and  indeed  rather  tends  to 
disturb  than  to  complete  their  sequence.  The  policy 
of  the  Scots  was,  if  they  were  attacked,  to  retaliate ; 
and  the  policy  of  their  retaliation  was  to  get  possession 
of  the  great  coal-fields  which  supplied  the  fires  of 
London.  There  were  many  opportunities  for  exchang- 
ing sympathies  and  sentiments  between  statesmen  of 
all  classes  in  the  two  countries,  and  it  is  needless  to 
inquire  what  they  said  to   each  other. 

The  tendency  to  seek  a  solution  of  the  coming 
events  in  a  specific  contract  or  treaty  has  grown  from 
an  imperfect  perception  of  the  natural  bond  of  com- 
mon interests  and  dangers.  The  opponents  of  the 
prerogative,  l^oth  in  England  and  in  Scotland,  far 
apart  as  they  afterwards  separated,  stood  at  that  time 
on  the  common  ground  that  each  professed  to  suffer 
from  innovations  on  the  established  constitutional 
practice  of  their  Government.  The  larger  violation  of 
the  constitution  fell  to  Scotland,  because  her  institu- 

invited  and  engaged  a  foreign  power  to  invade  liis  majesty's  kingdom  of 
England"  (Pari.  Hist.,  ii.  1005).  Pym,  in  his  celebrated  defence,  pointed 
this  charge  towards  a  later  turn  of  events:  "  If  to  join  with  the  Parlia- 
ment of  England  by  free  vote  to  crave  brotherly  assistance  from  Scotland 
— kingdoms  both  under  obedience  to  one  sovereign,  both  his  loyal  sub- 
ject.s — to  suppress  the  rebellion  in  Ireland,  which  lies  gasping  everyday, 
in  danger  to  be  lost  from  his  majesty's  subjection,  be  to  invite  and 
encourage  foreign  power  to  invade  this  kingdom,  then  am  I  guilty  of 
high  treason." — Ibid.,  T014.  The  place  where  the  correspondence  itself 
is  professed  to  be  given  for  the  first  time  is  Oldmixon's  History  (i.  141). 
Here  the  Scots  specifically  ask  their  friends  to  help  them  "  by  their 
rising  in  one  or  sundry  bodies  among  themselves,  or  by  sending  to  us 
near  the  Borders  some  present  supply  of  money,  or  clear  evidence  where 
we  shall  find  it  near  hand."  In  the  document  professing  to  bean  an.swer 
to  this  the  request  is  refused,  as  to  grant  it  might  involve  a  charge  of 
treason. 


INVASION    OF    ENGLAND,    1640.  105 

tions  were  the  more  antagonistic  to  the  projects  of  the 
innovators.  Thus  the  English  constitutionalists  had 
before  them  an  example  of  what  the  prerogative  was 
capable  of  attempting.  It  was  a  natural  thought  to 
cross  their  minds — to  use  the  figurative  language  of 
Rehoboam — "  AVe  have  been  chastised  with  whips ;  let 
us  see  how  those  who  have  been  chastised  with  scor- 
pions will  act."  Those  who  looked  at  the  innovations 
in  Scotland  rather  in  sorrow  than  in  anger,  saw  at  an 
early  point  the  English  sympathy,  and  were  alarmed 
by  the  sight.  It  had  gone  on  increasing ;  and  it  could 
not  be  smothered  by  the  old  panic-cry  about  a  Scots 
invasion,  even  when  this  was  aggravated  by  an  appeal 
to  France  for  assistance.  It  was  in  the  north,  where 
the  hatred  of  the  Scots  used  to  be  the  strongest,  that 
the  sympathy  with  them  was  becoming  the  greatest. 
"  I  am  persuaded,"  said  Osborne,  the  Vice-President 
of  York,  "  if  Hannibal  were  at  our  gates,  some  had 
rather  open  them  than  keep  him  out."^ 

It  was  easy  to  reassemble  the  army  so  recently  dis- 
persed in  Scotland.  Leslie  was  again  the  commander, 
and  in  the  middle  of  July  he  mustered  at  Dunglas  a 
force  of  more  than  twenty  thousand  foot  and  two  thou- 
sand five  hundred  horse.  Again  we  are  fortunate  in  the 
circumstantial  Baillie  having  accompanied  the  host. 
Hard  pressure  had  to  be  applied  to  raise  money.  The 
regular  taxation  took  time,  and  twenty  thousand  merks 
were  required  daily  ;  and  "  from  England  there  was  no 
expectation. of  moneys  till  we  went  and  fetched  them." 
Money  was  lent  and  given  by  the  enthusiastic  friends  of 
the  cause,  and  contributions  of  plate  were  taken  to  the 
mint.     As  it  Avas  desirable  that  their  march  through 

1  Notes  on  Treaty  of  Ripon,  xxvi. 


I06  CHARLES    I. 

England  should  be  as  inoflfensive  as  it  could  be  ren- 
dered, a  serviceable  equipment  of  tents  was  required, 
so  that  they  might  neither  quarter  on  the  people  nor  do 
mischief  by  gathering  materials  for  hutting.  The  linen 
stored  up,  according  to  national  custom,  by  the  thrifty 
housewives  of  Edinburgh,  supplied  this  want.  The 
eloquence  of  a  popular  preacher  did  much  to  open  this 
resource ;  for  "  RoUock  had  so  sweetly  spoken  to  the 
people's  minds  on  the  Sunday,  that  the  women,  after- 
noon and  to-morrow,  gave  freely  great  store  of  that 
stuff — almost  sufficient  to  cover  all  our  army."^ 

The  army  was  to  abide  some  time  on  the  Border, 
and  then,  if  necessary,  march  into  England.  On  the 
20th  of  AugTist  they  crossed  the  Tweed  at  Coldstream. 
Lots  were  drawn  as  to  the  order  of  march  through  the 
river,  and  chance  gave  the  lead  to  Montrose's  contin- 
gent. He  made  himself  conspicuous  by  his  zeal  and 
alacrity  in  leading  the  way  and  carrying  through  his 
own  people — it  was  in  keeping  with  the  ardour  of  his 
nature  ;  but  some  said  that  on  this  occasion  the  ex- 
hibition of  ardour  was  but  a  mask  to  hide  treachery. 
They  passed  southward  in  detachments,  all  to  assemble 
on  Newcastle  Moor.  When  they  reached  this  spot 
they  found  that  the  town  of  Newcastle  was  defended, 
and  that  a  considerable  English  force,  under  Conway, 
was  at  hand  on  the  south  side  of  the  Tyne.  It  was 
clear,  then,  they  must  fight  for  the  mastery  of  New- 
castle and  the  district  around,  otherwise  the  English, 
having  both  sides  of  the  river,  would  command  North- 
umberland. Leslie  determined  on  the  strategy  of 
turning  the  enemy's  flank.  The  chief  fortifications  of 
the  town  were  of  course  towards  the  north.     Listead, 

'  Baillie's  Letters,  i.  255. 


BATTLE    OF    NEWBURN,    1640.  107 

therefore,  of  besieging  the  place  from  that  side — de- 
fended, as  it  would  be,  by  a  considerable  force — he 
determined  to  cross  the  Tyne,  and  fight  that  force  in 
the  open  field.  It  was  a  sound  civil  policy,  if  it  could 
be  made  good  as  a  military  project,  since  it  kept  clear 
of  the  terrible  process  of  forcing  the  city  by  storming. 
The  point  selected  for  the  crossing  was  the  ford  of 
Newburn,  about  five  miles  above  Newcastle.  Conway, 
who  had  with  him  ten  thousand  foot  and  two  thou- 
sand horse,  was  enabled  to  afi'ord  a  force,  estimated 
variously  at  from  four  to  six  thousand  men,  to  hold 
the  ford.  They  raised  earthworks  and  mounted  several 
cannon.  The  bank  on  their  side  was  a  flat  haugh. 
On  the  Scots  side  it  was  steep,  so  that  the  English 
force  was  overlooked  and  iu  some  measure  commanded 
by  the  Scots.  On  the  south  side  any  attempt  by  the 
Scots  to  force  a  passage  promised  an  affair  in  which 
artillery  well  placed  and  served  would  defy  the  power 
of  numbers,  for  no  artillery  was  seen  in  the  Scots 
camp.  Here,  however,  Leslie's  German  experience 
enabled  him  to  effect  a  surprise.  Under  his  direction 
there  had  been  a  manufacture  in  Edinburgh  of  tem- 
porary cannon.  They  seem  to  have  been  made  of  tin 
for  the  bore,  with  a  coating  of  leather,  all  secured  by 
tight  cordage.  A  horse  could  carry  two  of  them,  and 
it  was  their  merit  to  stand  a  few  discharges  before 
they  came  to  pieces.  Leslie  had  some  of  these  masked 
among  bushes  on  the  river -bank,  others  he  got  up 
the  tower  of  Newburn  church.  AYhen  the  Scots  began 
to  cross,  and  Conway's  guns  opened  on  them,  to  the 
amazement  of  the  English  they  were  answered  by  a 
stronger  battery  commanding  them.  The  roar  of 
artUlery  from  a  force  believed  to  be  destitute  of  that 


I08  CHARLES    I. 

arm  is  one  of  those  terrible  surprises  which  tax  the 
nerves  of  highly-disciplined  veterans,  and  here  it  befell 
raw  recruits.     They  were  at  once  broken  up  into  con- 
fusion,  and  the  Scots  passed  over.     They  found  no 
enemy  to  resist  them  except  a  small  body  of  high- 
sj)irited  Cavalier  gentlemen,  finely  mounted,  and  armed 
with  breastplates.     These  fought  hard  ;  but  when  the 
whole  Scots  army  came  over,  the  contest  was  so  un- 
equal that  they  were  forcibly  taken  prisoners.     It  was 
not  the  policy  of  the  Scots  to  shed  much  blood,  and 
they  made  no  attempt  to  meddle  with  the  bulk  of  the 
English  force  in  its  retreat.     The  loss  on  the  English 
side,  even,  only  extended  to  some  forty  or  fifty — on 
the  Scots  to  about  a  tenth  of  the  number.     Such  Avas 
the  battle  by  which  the  Scots  army  forced  the  passage 
of  the  Tyne — a  trifle  in  the  bloody  annals  of  warfare, 
yet  so  momentous  that  in  critical  interest  it  may  well 
rival  the  famous  passage  of  the  Rubicon. 

The  scenery  around  the  cjuiet  village  of  Newburn  is 
not  naturally  remarkable,  but  it  has  a  signal  interest 
in  this,  that  few  other  battle-fields  present  on  their 
surface  so  distinct  an  impression  of  the  nature  of 
the  contest.  The  steep  bank  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Tyne  is  still  scrubby  as  it  was  when  Leslie's  light  guns 
were  masked  by  the  bushes,  and  the  short  thick  Nor- 
man tower  of  the  villaoje  church  looks  as  if  it  had 
been  made  to  carry  wall  -  pieces.  Standing  here,  we 
overlook  the  flat  haugh  where  the  English  army  was 
uselessly  fortified,  as  the  gallery  overlooks  the  stage 
of  a  theatre  ;  and  we  sec  at  once  how  fatal  was  the 
mistake  when  the  English  general  supposed  that  the 
Scots  had  no  cannon.  A  general  survey  of  the  river 
from  Leslie's  jjosition  shows,  what  inquiry  will  confirm, 


BATTLE    OF    NEWBURN,    1640.  109 

that  Newburn  is  the  nearest  point  to  Newcastle  where 
the  Tyne  conld  be  forded  by  troops.  The  river  has 
many  sweeping  loops,  and  at  any  one  of  these,  had 
the  water  been  shallow  enouoli,  the  Scots  conld  have 
passed  nnmolested,  through  the  well-recognised  mili- 
tary advantage  of  having  the  inside  of  the  curve.  At 
Newburn  the  water  is  so  shallow  that  in  dry  weather 
a  child  can  take  the  ford,  and  we  must  conclude  that 
it  would  not  have  been  forced  had  any  other  part  of 
the  river  been  available.  ^ 

^  The  only  account  of  tlie  battle,  so  far  as  the  author  is  aware,  by  a 
military  man  present  in  it,  is  the  one  given,  by  way  of  vindication  of 
himself,  by  the  defeated  general.  In  saying  that  his  soldiers  were 
"  unacquainted  with  the  cannon,"  he  must  be  held  to  mean  that  they 
were  not  aware  of  their  existence  till  they  opened  fire  : — 

"The  Scots  having  made  a  battery  and  drawn  down  their  army,  our 
works  were  provided  with  men  to  defend  them,  and  with  others  to 
second  them.  Six  troops  of  horse  were  placed  to  charge  the  Scots 
where  they  came  over,  and  six  or  seven  more  were  placed  to  second 
them.  When  the  Scots  foi'ces  were  in  readiness,  and  their  cannon 
placed,  our  works  were  not  jJroof  against  them  ;  the  soldiers  were  un- 
acquainted with  the  cannon,  and  therefore  did  not  endure  many  shot  ; 
those  that  were  to  second  them  followed  their  example. 

"The  horse  charged  the  Scots,  and  drove  them  back  into  the  river; 
but  the  cannon  beating  through,  some  of  our  troops  that  were  sent  to 
second  went  off  when  they  saw  the  place  forsaken.  They  should  have 
gone  on  the  left  hand,  that  they  might  have  gone  off  with  the  foot;  but 
mistaking  their  direction,  went  on  the  right  hand,  which  carried  them 
up  the  hill,  where  they  found  some  troops.  Whilst  they  consulted  what 
was  best  to  be  done,  the  Scots  horse  came  up  in  two  divisions,  and  with 
them  ten  thousand  musketeers.  The  first  charge  was  upon  the  regiment 
commanded  by  Lord  Wilmot,  who  was  there  taken  prisoner,  his  men 
forsaking  him,  and  falling  foul  of  some  troops  of  the  Lord  Conway's 
regiment,  disordered  them  ;  the  rest  being  charged,  did  as  they  saw 
others  do  before  them. 

"  The  cause  of  the  loss  that  day  was  the  disadvantage  of  the  ground, 
and  the  slight  fortification,  which  the  shortness  of  the  time  would  not 
afford  to  be  better.  Neither  would  it  admit  us  to  make  any  works  upon 
the  hni  where  we  stood  opposite  against  the  Scots.  And  when  we  came 
to  sight,  the  soldiers  did  not  their  parts  as  they  ought  to  have  done, 
being  the  most  of  them  the  meanest  sort  of  men  about  London,  and 
unacquainted  with  service,  and  forgetting  to  do  that  which  they  had  oft 


no  CHARLES    I. 

The  way  to  Newcastle  was  now  open — a  detach- 
ment of  the  army  had  only  to  cross  the  bridge  and 
enter  the  town. 

In  the  histories  inspired  by  the  great  struggle  of 
the  day,  the  capture  of  Newcastle  is  one  of  those 
gentle  quiet  affairs  that  call  for  little  further  notice 
than  the  transference  of  Edinburgh  and  Dumbarton 
into  new  ruling  hands.  But  to  the  community  of 
that  town  it  was  an  astounding  and  terrible  event. 
If  there  were  those  in  England  who  expected  to  meet 
the  Scots  as  friends  and  allies,  Newcastle  was  not  the 
place  where  these  were  to  be  found.  In  their  tradi- 
tions the  Scots  were  men  of  blood  and  rapine.  They 
were  denounced  in  the  civic  ordinances  as  a  race  unfit 
to  mingle  with  the  civilised  sons  of  trade  and  industry. 
There  were  men  alive  who  in  their  youth  could  remem- 
ber the  families  of  Northumbrian  farmers  fleeing  for 
their  lives  within  the  protecting  walls  of  Newcastle, 
and  could  recall,  when  the  panic  was  over,  how  the 
citizens  in  fearful  curiosity  visited  the  ruined  grange, 
to  see  its  emptied  byres  and  stables,  and  the  bleeding 
bodies  of  its  defenders.  If  in  the  days  of  the  flat- 
bottomed  boats  the  corporation  had  awakened  to  find 
themselves  in  the  hands  of  a  French  army  landed  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Tyne,  the  surprise  and  consternation 
could  not  have  been  greater  than  on  that  summer  day, 
a  hundred  and  sixty  years  earlier,  when  the  town  and 
its  great  coal-field  were  seen  in  the  possession  of  the 
Scots  invaders. 

The  colliers  outside  the  town  fled  from  their  works. 


been  commanded  and  taught." — The  Lord  Conway's  Relation  concerning 
the  Passages  in  the  late  Northern  Expedition,  1640  ;  Hailes's  Memorials 
and  Letters,  Charles  L,  102,  10.3. 


CAPTURE    OF    NEWCASTLE,    1640.  Ill 

The  citizens — all  but  a  few  who  instantly  escaped — 
had  to  submit  to  the  restraints  of  a  garrison  town, 
and  to  remain  at  home,  or  absent  themselves  on 
leave  and  under  precautions  against  the  removal 
of  property.  A  citizen,  recovered  from  the  first 
panic,  and  seeing  that  there  is  order,  at  all  events, 
if  not  safety,  gets  an  opportunity  to  write  to  a  friend 
by  sea,  and  says,  "  I  have  taken  the  more  freedom  to 
enlarge  myself,  and  acquaint  you  with  the  true  state 
of  our  conditions."  "It  is  true,"  he  says,  "  they  have 
invited,  and  by  all  means  endeavoured,  to  di-aw  us 
back  to  our  dwellings  in  this  town,  where  we  live 
together  quietly  enough  for  appearance,  being  in  this 
town  not  troubled  with  their  common  soldiers,  who 
are  kept  in  their  quarters  in  the  camp.  Some  com- 
manders and  men  of  greater  rank  living  with  us  in 
the  town,  we  enjoy  hitherto  all  our  own  goods  and 
merchandise  which  we  have  in  possession,  the  money 
excepted,  which,  while  the  terror  of  the  armies  lay 
upon  us,  and  their  intentions  not  known,  they  easily 
persuaded  us  to  lend  upon  their  own  security,  which 
I  assure  you  was  the  greatest  part  of  the  ready  money 
seen  in  the  town,  some  having  so  much  providence  as 
to  transport  their  estates  away  before."  ^  Another 
says  :  "  Many  families  gone,  leaving  their  goods  to 
the  mercy  of  the  Scots,  who  possessed  themselves  of 
such  corn,  cheese,  beer,  &c.,  as  they  found,  giving  the 
owners  thereof,  or  some  in  their  stead,  some  money 
in  hand,  and  security  in  writing  for  the  rest,  to  be 


^  Letter  from  an  Alderman  of  Newcastle,  8tli  September  1640  ;  Re- 
prints of  Rare  Tracts  and  Imprints  of  Ancient  Manuscripts,  chiefly  illus- 
trative of  the  History  of  the  Northern  Counties,  and  printed  at  the  Press 
of  M.  A.  Richardson  :  seven  volumes — vol.  i. 


112  CHARLES    I. 

paid  at  four  or  six  montlis  in  money  or  corn  ;  and  if 
they  refuse,  said  the  Scots,  sucli  is  the  necessity  of  the 
army,  that  they  must  take  it  without  security  rather 
than  starve."  ^ 

These  petty  details  bear  on  the  great  difficulty  of  the 
army's  position.  It  was  strong  enough  to  help  itself, 
but  that  was  not  the  policy  of  its  leaders.  However 
willing  the  Government  of  Scotland  might  be  to  bear 
a  burden  in  the  cause,  the  support  of  an  army  exceed- 
ing twenty  thousand  men  on  foreign  soil  was  beyond 
their  pecuniary  ability.  The  problem  was,  how  to  be 
good  neighbours  with  the  English  of  the  north,  and 
yet  be  fed  by  them — in  other  words,  how  to  buy  from 
them,  and  pay  them  out  of  nothing. 

It  ended,  as  on  other  like  occasions,  in  the  levying 
of  contributions  to  be  paid  some  time  or  other  from 
some  fund.  We  are  told  how  "  the  mayor  and  alder- 
men of  Newcastle  pretends  inability  to  pay  their  two 
hundred  pound  a-day.  We  were  forced  to  put  a  guard 
about  their  town-house  till  we  got  new  assurances  from 
them.  According  to  our  declaration,  we  took  nothing 
for  nought,  only  we  borrowed  on  good  security  so 
much  money  a  -  day  as  was  necessary  for  our  being, 
to  be  repaid  long  before  our  departure."  - 

The  burden,  as  we  shall  afterwards  find,  was  removed 
from  the  district  and  spread  over  England.  Mean- 
while the  citizens  of  Newcastle  had  an  opportunity 
of  finding  that  there  was  some  difference  between  this 
well-ordered  army  and  the  incursions  of  the  Teviotdale 
and  Eskdale  marauders,  which  brought  terror  to  the 
hearts  of  an  earlier  generation.  As  it  was  in  the 
destiny  of  things  that  the  Scots  were  soon  afterwards 

'  Newcastle  Reprints,  i.  8.  ^  Baillie's  Letters,  i.  262. 


CAPTURE    OF    NEWCASTLE,    1640.  II3 

to  revisit  them,  the  character  of  their  present  dealings 
"with  the  community  had  doubtless  its  influence  on 
their  subsequent  reception.  King  Charles  on  his  way 
north  had  received  the  loyal  applause  of  the  corpora- 
tion, and  they  proved  their  sincerity  by  the  contingent 
they  supplied  to  his  force.^ 

Public  opinion  was  at  that  juncture  changing  rap- 
idly in  England ;  and  many  who  looked  to  the  Scots 
in  1640  as  invading  enemies,  afterwards  welcomed 
them  at  their  later  visit  as  friends  and  allies.  The 
situation  is  thus  described  by  Baillie  : — 

"  In  the  king's  magazine  were  found  good  store  of 
biscuit  and  cheese,  and  five  thousand  arms,  musket, 
and  pikes,  and  other  provision.  Messrs  Henderson  and 
Cant  preached  to  a  great  confluence  of  people  on  the 
Sunday.  My  Lord  Lothian,  with  his  regiment,  was 
placed  to  govern  the  town — our  camp  lay  without. 
The  report  of  this  in  all  our  pulpits  did  make  our  peo- 
ple sound  humble  and  hearty  thanks  to  the  name  of 
our  God,  in  the  confidence  of  Avhose  help  this  work  was 
begun,  and  on  whose  strength  it  does  yet  rely  —  not 
well  knowing  what  to  do  next ;  for  many  a  time  from 
the  beginning  we  have  been  at  a  nonplus,  but  God 
helped  us  over."^  They  seemed  to  be,  indeed,  carried 
forward  on  the  wings  of  destiny.  They  took  Durham, 
Tynemouth,  and  Shields  without  a  struggle.  News 
came  to  them  that  Dumbarton  Castle  had  surrendered 
on  the  day  when  their  army  forced  the  passage  at 
Newburn;  and  a  few  days  later  came  the  news  that 

^  "The  town  of  Newcastle-upon-Tyne  furnislied  250  pikemen,  250 
musketeers,  and  350  dragoons  for  the  king's  service,"  a  larger  force  than 
all  the  rest  of  Northumberland  supplied.  —  Letter  from  a  Royalist  of 
Newcastle,  introduction  ;  Newcastle  Reprints,  iv. 

'  Letters,  i.  257. 

VOL.  VIL  H 


114  CHARLES    I. 

the  garrison  of  Edinburgh  Castle  had  been  turned  out 
in  the  manner  we  have  seen.     Though  it  was  clear  to 
the  enthusiasts  who    gave  impulse  to  the  enterprise 
that  God  was  fighting  for  them,  yet  there  was  prac- 
tical sense  and  moderation  enough  in  that  host  to  bid 
them  rejoice  with  trembling.     They  immediately  took 
to   their   old   practice  of   supplicating,  and  never  in 
their  dangers  and  difficulties  did  they  approach  the 
throne  with  more  submissive  and  deferential  loyalty 
than  in  this  hour  of  triumph.   "We  only  implore,"  they 
say,  "  that  we  may,  without  farther  opposition,  come 
into  your  majesty's  presence,  for  obtaining  from  your 
majesty's  justice  and  goodness  satisfaction  to  our  just 
demands.     We,  your  majesty's  most  humble  and  loyal 
subjects,  do  still  insist  in  that  submiss  way  of  petition- 
ing which  we  have  keeped  since  the  beginning,  and 
from  which  no  provocation  of  your  majesty's  enemies 
and  ours,  no  adversity  that  we  have  before  sustained, 
nor  prosperous  success  can  befall  us,  shall  be  able  to 
divert  our  minds  ;  most  humbly  entreating  that  your 
majesty  would,  in  the  depth  of  your  royal  wisdom, 
consider  at   last  our  pressing  grievances  and  losses, 
and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Estates  of  the 
kingdom  of  England  convened  in  Parliament,  settle  a 
firm  and  durable  peace  against  all  invasions  by  sea  or 
land." 

Tn  this  last  sentence  there  was  a  deep  and  formid- 
able meaning.  It  announced,  and  for  the  first  time, 
that  there  was  a  common  cause  between  the  Scots  in- 
vaders and  the  English  Parliament,  and  referred  to  the 
two  as  two  elements  of  force  that  must  in  the  necessity 
of  things  coalesce.  Without  a  key  in  the  history  of 
the  times  to  this  and  other  parts  of  the  "  supplication," 


CAPTURE    OF    NEWCASTLE,    164O.  I15 

the  casual  reader  might  take  it  for  a  timid  appeal  by 
some  poor  creatures  who,  on  their  peaceable  and  in- 
offensive passage  to  the  quarter  where  they  were 
to  represent  their  griefs  and  sufferings,  had  been 
despitefully  assailed  by  their  enemies,  and  had  been 
providentially  enabled  to  get  clear  of  these  perils 
of  the  way,  regretting  at  the  same  time  that  their 
assailants  had  brought  on  themselves  some  casualties. 
After  all  their  sufferings,  extreme  necessity  had  con- 
strained them,  for  their  relief,  to  come  into  England, 
where  they  were  peaceably  passing  through  the 
country,  harming  no  one,  and  paying  for  what  they 
needed,  "till,"  they  say,  "we  were  pressed  by  strength 
of  arms  to  put  such  forces  out  of  the  way  as  did, 
without  our  deserving,  and — as  some  of  them  have 
at  the  point  of  death  confessed  —  against  their  own 
consciences,  oppose  our  peaceable  passage  at  Newburn- 
on-Tyne,  and  have  brought  their  blood  upon  their  own 
heads  against  our  purposes  and  desires." 

The  king  received  this  document  at  York.  He  was 
already  in  the  midst  of  a  sea  of  troubles  when  his 
defeated  troops  came  scattering  in  upon  him.  The 
victors  had  let  it  be  known  that  they  were  prepared 
to  march  on  to  York  ;  and  as  surely  as  they  did,  so 
would  they  again  scatter  the  king's  army  before  them. 
His  answer  to  the  appeal  seemed  to  paxtake  of  the 
trouble  and  confusion  of  his  spirit ;  but  it  sufficed  for 
the  time,  since  its  general  import  was,  that  before 
striking  he  would  listen.  It  was  signed  by  the  Earl 
of  Lanark,  Hamilton's  brother,  as  Secretary  of  State 
for  Scotland.^ 

The  Scots  sent  in  a  paper  of  seven  demands,  not  so 

1  Rushwortli,  iii.  1255,  1256. 


Il6  CHARLES    I. 

important  in  tlieir  own  substance  as  because  they  were 
a  basis  on  which  conference  might  be  held.  Perhaps 
the  most  significant  of  them  was  for  protecting  from 
the  imposition  of  "new  oaths"  their  compatriots  in 
England  and  Ireland.  The  king  intimated  that  the 
whole  state  of  the  case  was  to  be  laid  before  that  great 
council  of  the  peers  which,  following  a  practice  which 
had  grown  obsolete,  he  had  summoned  at  York.  The 
great  council  recommended  the  holding  of  a  treaty,  to 
which  the  Scots  should  send  representatives.  The 
time  fixed  for  it  was  the  1st  of  October,  and  the  place 
Ripon,  in  Yorkshire.  Eight  commissioners  represented 
Scotland  :  two  nobles,  Dunfermline  and  Loudon,  al- 
ready well  acquainted  with  the  ground  they  were 
to  go  over  ;  two  representatives  of  the  smaller  barons ; 
two  clergymen,  one  of  them  Alexander  Henderson, 
the  great  preacher.  The  Covenant  was  farther 
represented  by  the  great  Church  lawyer  Warriston, 
and  the  town-clerk  of  Dundee  represented  the  burghal 
community.  These  gentlemen  showed  how  suspi- 
cious the  Scots  had  become,  by  requesting  a  safe- 
conduct,  not  only  under  the  sign-manual,  but  under 
the  signatures  of  the  assembled  peers ;  but  this  being 
refused  with  something  like  a  rebuke,  they  were  con- 
tent to  drop  the  request. 

The  commissioners  had  ample  opportunities  of  diving 
into  the  recesses  of  the  c[uarrel  in  the  mass  of  disputa- 
tive  documents  which  had  accumulated  round  it.  In 
addition  to  those  already  noticed,  a  later  and  fruitful 
crop  had  appeared.  They  are  of  less  moment  and  in- 
terest, however,  to  the  student  of  the  present  day,  than 
those  which  preceded  warlike  action.  In  these  we  see 
the  gradual  growth  of  the  conditions  which  brought 


TREATY    OF    RIPON,    1640.  II7 

on  the  quarrel.  The  later  controversy  is  in  general 
but  tiresome  comment,  in  the  shape  of  attack  and 
defence,  on  the  events  passing  before  the  world.  The 
most  important  of  these  Avas  a  continuation  of  the 
king's  Large  Declaration,  with  the  title,  "His  Majesty's 
Declaration  concerning  his  Proceedings  with  his  Sub- 
jects in  Scotland  since  the  Pacification  in  the  Camp 
near  Berwick."  ^  It  has  the  same  sort  of  qualified 
success  as  the  old  Declaration.  Grant  that  the  king- 
was  an  absolute  monarch,  he  shows  that  he  yielded 
with  wonderful  facility  to  the  desires  of  his  trouble- 
some subjects,  abandoning  his  own  better  judgment 
to  yield  to  their  unreasonable  caprices.  The  Scots 
printed  and  circulated  in  England  a  paper  called  '  The 
Lawfulness  of  our  Expedition  into  England  manifested.' 
Whatever  interest  attached  to  this  document  has  been 
recently  enhanced  by  the  discovery  of  a  copy  of  it  en- 
riched with  Laud's  marginal  notes.  As  they  are  the 
abrupt  comments  set  down  as  he  read  and  grew  angry 
in  reading,  they  probably  give  us  his  and  his  master's 
political  creed  more  broadly  and  emphatically  than 
we  can  find  them  in  the  deliberative  announcements 
contained  in  the  king's  Declarations  and  other  State 
papers.  The  spirit  of  these  notes  cannot  be  better 
told  than  in  the  words  of  him  who  found  and  edited 
them :  "  Taking  the  notes  in  connection  with  the  state- 
ments of  the  Scots,  we  have  at  one  glance  the  views 
of  both  parties.  Those  of  the  archbishop  were  simple 
in  the  extreme.  Politically  he  had  but  one  complaint 
to  make  against  the  Scots.  It  was  their  '  duty'  to  have 
obeyed  the  king.  They  failed  in  this  respect,  and 
that  failure  brought  on  all  the  succeeding  trouble. 

1  It  will  be  found  in  Rushwortli,  iii.  1018,  and  in  other  places. 


Il8  CHARLES    I. 

As  applicable  to  the  king's  commands,  no  question  of 
right  or  wrong,   of  reason  or  unreason,  of  legality  or 
the  contrary,   seems  in  the  slightest  degree  to  have 
disturbed  the  equanimity  of  the  archbishop.     In  his 
estimation  the  whole  case  turned  upon  one  single  con- 
sideration.     The  premises  were  unquestionable,  and 
the  conclusion  irresistible.     The  Scots  had  not  yielded 
'the  dutiful  obedience  of  subjects;'  they  could  not, 
therefore,  be  otherwise  than  to  blame,  and  not  less  so 
in  the  sight  of  God  than  in  that  of  their  sovereign 
and  of  the  archbishop."  ^ 

The    commissioners   of  both    kingdoms   assembled 

'  Bruce,  preface  to  Notes  of  the  Treaty  carried  on  at  Eipon,  xl.  The 
following  specimens  may  be  selected  from  the  Scots  manifesto  and 
Laud's  criticisms  on  it ; — 

The  Manifesto.  Laud's  Notes. 

"  As  all  men  know  and  confess  what  is  the  great       "  Noue  of  these  ne- 
f orce  of  necessity,   and   how  it  doth  j  ustify  actions    cessary,  if  thej-  would 
otherwise  unwarrantable,  so  can  it  not  be  denied    ''*^'''  yielded  due  obe- 
that  -we  must  either  seek  our  peace  in  England  at   '1"^"'^«  t°  "'«"'  kmg." 
this  time,  or  lie  under  three  heavy  burthens  which 
we  are  not  able  to  bear.     First,  we  must  maintain 
armies  on  the  Borders,"  &c. 

"This  we  say  not  from  fear,  but  from  feeling;  "No  growth  iieces- 
for  we  have  already  felt,  to  our  unspeakable  preju-  sary  when  they  might 
dice,  -what  it  is  to  maintain  armies,  what  to  want  '\^^^.  Prevented  the  be 
traiBc,  what  to  want  administration  of  justice  : 
and  if  the  beginning  of  these  evils  be  so  heavy, 
what  shall  the  growth  and  loug  continuance  of 
them  prove  unto  us  ? — so  miserable  a  being  all  men 
would  judge  to  be  worse  than  no  being." 

"  If  we  consider  the  nature  and  quality  of  this       "  if  this  were  true, 
expedition,  it  is  defensive,  and  so  the  more  justi-    'tis  not  defensive." 
liable.     The  king's  majesty,  misled  by  the  craft  and 
cruel  faction  of  our  adversaries,  began  this  year's 
war — not  we." 

"  We  have  laboured  in  long-suifering,  by  suppli-  "  Save  yielding  the 
cations,  informations,  commissions,  and  all  other  dutiful  obedience  of 
means  possible,  to  avoid  this  expedition."  subjects." 

When  they  talk  of  "invasions  by  sea  which  liave  spoiled  us  of  our 


ginning  by  doing  but 
their  duty." 


TREATY    OF    RIPON,    164O.  1 19 

accordingly  at  Ripon,  on  the  1st  of  October  1640,  and 
began  business  next  day.  There  were,  as  there  always 
are  in  such  conferences,  minor  details  of  business  to 
be  adjusted  at  the  beginning.  The  king,  for  instance, 
desired  that  some  persons  in  his  own  interest  should 
attend  as  "  assistants  ;  "  for  the  English  commissioners 
did  not  properly  represent  the  Crown,  but  were  ac- 
credited by  the  great  council  of  the  peers.  The  Scots 
seemed  not  to  concern  themselves  with  the  English 
assistants ;  but  they  were  jealous  of  the  presence  of 
Traquair,  Morton,  and  Lanark  in  that  capacity.  They 
were  told  that  these  attended  not  to  vote  or  take  part 
in  the  conference,  but,  as  persons  versant  in  the  busi- 
ness of  Scotland,  to  explain  matters  relating  to  that 
country  which  might  be  unintelligible  to  Englishmen ; 
and  some  preliminary  diplomacy  was  necessary  to 
keep  these  assistants  within  such  limits. 

On  the  general  question  the  Scots  felt  the  ground 
consolidating,  as  it  were,  beneath  their  feet  day  by  day. 
In  every  dij)lomatic  conference  there  are  truths  be- 
hind any  that  appear  on  the  smooth  and  tranquil  face 
of  the  discussions  ;  and  the  great  truth  behind  the 
treaty  of  Ripon  was,  that  the  Scots  were  absolute 
masters  of  the  situation.  Did  they  come  as  enemies  ? 
Then  they  were  invaders  who  had  conquered  the 
north  of  England,  and  redeemed  for  their  country  that 
ancient  district  of  Northumberland  which  the  voice  of 
tradition  assigned  as  an  ancient  possession  of  the  Scot- 
ships  and  goods,"  the  comnientator  says,  with  angry  astonishment,  "  The 
king  invade  his  owti  !  " 

At  one  point  he  gets  so  angry  as  to  employ  a  scurvy  jest  frequently 
used  hy  the  common  people  of  England  against  the  Scots  of  that  day. 
Where  they  say  that  for  the  provisions  of  their  army  they  either  paid  or 
gave  security,  he  notes,  "  Not  worth  three  of  their  lice." 


120  CHARLES    I. 

tish  Crown  ;  and  in  the  existing  condition  of  England 
there  was  no  rational  prospect  that  the  conquest  Avould 
be  taken  out  of  their  hands.  This  great  calamity  had 
a  Government,  by  its  feebleness  or  its  folly,  or  by 
something  worse  than  either,  brought  upon  England  ; 
and  all  who  befriended  the  Government  and  valued  the 
honour  of  England  must  avert  such  a  stigma  at  any 
sacrifice.-'  Did  the  Scots  come  as  friends  ?  Then  to 
the  Government  they  were  friends  by  mere  forced 
courtesy.  Their  real  friendship  was  for  that  great 
Parliamentary  party  which  Avas  about  to  rise  against 
the  Government.  They  were  conscious  of  the  thorough 
amity  of  that  party.  The  great  voice  of  England  was 
(•ailing  for  a  Parliament,  and  the  Scots  put  in  their 
word  too  for  a  Parliament ;  in  fact,  before  the  commis- 
sioners left  Ripon  the  writs  had  been  issued  for  "  the 
Long  Parliament,"  and  it  was  the  Scots  who  had  pro- 
cm^ed  this  for  their  English  friends. 

In  whatever  sense  the  word  was  to  be  taken,  they 
were  called  and  were  dealt  with  as  friends.  Well,  if 
friends,  they  were  friends  who  had  done  eminent 
service  to  England  at  much  sacrifice  to  themselves.  It 
was  but  fair  that  their  friendship  should  be  requited 
—that  their  sacrifices  in  the  cause  of  their  English 
friends  should  at  all  events  be  refunded.  In  short, 
the  army  had  been  embodied  and  marched  across  the 

'  Among  some  notes  of  what  was  said  in  tlie  council  at  York — notes 
intended  apparently  to  refresh  the  memory  of  the  notemaker — there  are 
some  glimpses  of  meaning  intelligible  to  others,  and  among  these  nearly 
the  most  distinct  is  a  passionate  burst  by  Stratford.  It  wiU  be  under- 
stood that  "this  army"  means  the  English,  "  the  other  "  the  Scotch: 
'•  If  this  army  dissolve  and  disband,  the  other  army  being,  as  it  is,  in 
such  a  posture,  this  country  is  lost  in  two  days,  and  the  fire  will  at  last 
go  to  the  farthest  house  in  the  street.  No  history  can  mention  so  great 
an  infamy  as  the  deserting  this." — Hardwicke's  State  Papers,  ii.  211. 


TREATY    OF    RIPON,    1640.  121 

Border  in  the  service  of  England,  therefore  the  expense 
incurred  and  yet  to  be  incurred  in  that  service  must 
be  paid  by  England.  If  not,  the  Scots  could  easily 
help  themselves.  They  hinted  that  they  would  be 
content  with  the  estates  of  the  Papists  and  of  the 
bishops,  who  were  their  natural  enemies,  and  they 
began  by  taking  possession  of  the  princely  domains  of 
the  see  of  Durham.  Some  abrupt  notes  of  private 
conferences  held  among  each  other  by  the  English 
lords  might  be  likened  to  the  hurried  and  nervous 
estimate  of  resources  for  the  purchase  of  life  and 
liberty  by  captives  in  the  hands  of  banditti ;  or  perhaps 
a  more  appropriate  analogy  would  be  the  discussions 
by  the  authorities  of  a  beleaguered  town  on  the  best 
method  of  raising  ransom-money.'^ 

'  For  instance,  the  following,  in  whicli  it  is  to  be  understood  that  the 
reporter  only  sets  down  one  or  two  leading  words  by  way  of  memo- 
randum of  the  purport  of  what  each  said  : — 

"  The  lords  retire. 

E.  Bristoll. — They  say  if  they  cannot  live  in  one  place  they  will  live 
in  another. 

They  will  come  with  an  army  able  to  obtain  their  demands. 

Not  fall  into  particulars  of  lessening  their  army,  but,  by  way  of  in- 
ducement, to  offer  them  ^20,000  a-month. 

E.  Burks  [Earl  of  Berkshire]. — To  speak  with  Mr  Treasurer,  who 
knows  the  country,  whether  they  are  able. 

3fr  Treasurer. — Those  four  counties  and  Newcastle  not  able  to  pay 
that  sum.     No  trade,  but  only  for  a  month  about  ^12,000  to  be  raised. 

They  propose  they  will  presently  have  money  without  victuals, 
which  they  cannot  do. 

They  speak  of  recruiting — to  bind  them  from  recruiting,  and  to  have 
a  cessation  of  arms. 

Let  nothing  be  known  to  them  of  anything  out  of  the  counties. 

E.  Holland. — He  supposes  it  is  a  proposition  that  the  counties  here- 
about will  find. 

E.  Burks. — Whether  offer  it  without  consulting  with  Yorkshire. 

E.  Holland. — It  must  be  had,  and  therefore  fit  to  be  offered. 

Lord  Saville. — They  will  retire,  and  if  they  say  they  cannot  accept 
it,  whether  they  will  offer  more. 


122  CHARLES    I. 

There  was  much  haggling  about  the  actual  amount 
of  money  to  be  paid.  It  is  not  necessary  that  we 
should  impute  all  the  discussions  to  the  mere  merce- 
nary spirit  of  parting  with  and  pocketing  so  much 
coin.  The  Scots  had  further  objects  than  taking  a 
bribe  to  return  home,  and  the  furtherance  of  these 
objects  was  intimately  connected  not  only  with  the 
amount  to  be  paid  to  them,  but  the  form  and  con- 
ditions of  its  payment.  They  asked  £40,000  a- 
month,  but  this  was  refused.  They  then  reduced 
their  demand  to  £30,000 — finally  the  allowance  was 


If  you  offer  it,  it  must  be  found,  and  in  conclusion  it  goes  upon  all 
the  kingdom. 

If  they  say  they  cannot  accept  it,  we  to  propose  unto  them  our 
reasons — that  we  are  their  friends,  never  did  them  ivr-ong. 

To  send  to  Newcastle  to  know  whether  they  will  receive  this  with 
some  of  the  county. 

In  the  mean  time  to  treat  of  the  other  heads,  and  us  to  treat  with  the 
gentlemen  of  the  counties. 

Lord  Saville. — Not  to  let  the  Scots  know,  of  our  treaty  with  the 
counties. 

Lord  Wharton. — Let  it  be  proposed  to  be  only  out  of  the  counties  in 
danger. 

£.  Holland. — To  consider,  if  they  refuse  the  sum,  to  think  what  to 
do,  considering  the  great  danger  of  the  kingdom ;  but  to  give  them  no 
resolution  this  morning,  but  take  into  resolution  to  answer  in  the  after- 
noon."— Bruce's  Notes  of  the  Treaty  of  Eipon,  33-35. 

Again,  on  24th  October,  as  the  meetings  draw  to  a  close  : — 

"  The  lords  commissioners  retire. 

The  gentlemen  of  Cumberland  and  Westmoreland  are  already  pre- 
pared to  come  into  contribution. 

A  letter  written  to  those  counties,  and  this  to  be  shown  unto  the 
Soots  commissioners. 

They  have  already  called  the  gentlemen  of  these  shires — Sir  Patricius 
Curwen,  Sir  George  Dawson,  and  Sir  Philip  Musgrave — and  are  now 
writing  a  letter  which  my  Lord  Wharton  read. 

E.  Bristoll. — To  add  to  this,  they  will  procure  the  strength  of  the 
great  council  of  York. 

They  will  engage  themselves  to  endeavour  all  means  at  London  with 
the  Parliament  to  see  it  pierformed." — Ibid.,  65. 


TREATY    OF    RIPON,    164O.  123 

fixed  at  £850  a-clay.  It  was  secured  on  obliga- 
tions from  corporations  and  landowners  cliiefly  in  the 
northern  counties ;  but  it  was  the  hope  of  those  who 
became  thus  liable,  that  Parliament  would  relieve 
them ;  and  the  prospect  of  the  whole  question  coming 
into  the  hands  of  the  new  Parliament,  to  which  the 
English  nation  looked  with  so  much  hope,  was  also  a 
prospect  full  of  stirring  hope  to  the  Scots. 

Early  in  the  sittings  there  was  a  singular  incident. 
On  the  8th  of  October  the  king  desired  that  the  treaty 
should  be  transferred  to  York.  The  reasons  given 
were  merely  the  "  unhealthfulness "  of  the  town  of 
Eipon,  and  for  "  expediting "  the  treaty.  The  Scots 
suspected  that  there  were  other  reasons.  The  king's 
army  was  at  York,  with  Strafford  at  its  head.  They 
said  :  We  cannot  "  conceave  "  or  foresee  "  Avhat  danger 
may  be  apprehended  in  our  going  to  York,  and  suffer- 
ing ourselves  and  others  who  may  be  joined  with  us 
into  the  hands  of  an  army  commanded  by  the  Lieu- 
tenant of  Ireland,  against  whom,  as  a  chief  incendiary, 
according  to  our  demands,  which  are  the  subject  of  the 
treaty  itself,  we  intend  to  insist,  as  is  expressed  in  our 
remonstrance  and  declarator ;  who  hath  in  the  Parlia- 
ment of  Ireland  proceeded  against  us  as  traitors  and 
rebels — the  best  titles  his  lordship  in  his  common  talk 
is  pleased  to  honour  us  with,  whose  commission  is  to 
subdue  and  destroy  us,  and  who  by  all  means  and  at 
all  occasions  presseth  the  breaking  up  of  all  treaties  of 
peace,  as  fearing  to  be  excluded  in  the  end."  ^ 

When  the  matters  of  the  pay  of  the  army  and  the 
pacification  were  adjusted,  another  adjournment  was 
proposed  :   it  was    to    London,  whither   the  English 

'  Bruce's  Notes,  26. 


124  CHARLES    I. 

lords  had  to  go  to  attend  the  new  Parliament.  No 
proposal  could  have  been  more  apt  to  the  views  and 
fortunes  of  the  Scots,  and  it  was  gladly  accepted. 

By  this  adjournment  the  destinies  of  tlie  Scots  na- 
tion were  virtually  thrown  into  the  great  game  which 
was  to  be  played  over  the  whole  empire.  For  some 
years,  although  a  few  incidents  of  the  contest  were 
peculiar  to  Scotland,  the  history  of  its  policy  and  aims 
has  to  be  looked  on  from  the  centre  of  a  greater  area, 
comprehending  the  three  kingdoms,  as  they  were  for 
some  time,  and  the  Commonwealth,  as  the  whole  after- 
wards became.  The  duties  of  the  historian  of  Scot- 
land proper  are  thus  in  some  measure  for  a  time 
superseded,  and  fall  on  those  who  undertake  the  his- 
tory of  the  great  civil  war. 


CHAPTER    LXXIII. 
Cijarles  E. 

ADJOURNMENT     OF     THE      TREATY     TO     LONDON SCOTS      COMMIS- 
SIONERS   THERE THEIR    POPULARITY THE    LONG    PARLIAMENT 

FALL    OF    STRAFFORD    AND    LAUD CONTESTS    IN    THE    NORTH 

MONRO     IN     ABERDEEN ARGYLe's     BANDS     IN     THE     WEST 

RAVAGE   THE    NORTHERN    LOWLANDS — THE    GREAT    PARLIAMENT 

OF     164I THE    king's     PRESENCE — CONSTITUTIONAL    CHANGES 

COMMITTEE      OF      ESTATES  —  MONTROSE     AND      ARGYLL THE 

INCIDENT    AND     THE     RECRIMINATIONS MONTROSe's     CHANGE 

NEWS    OF    THE    IRISH     OUTBREAK THE     SUSPICIONS    AGAINST 

THE      KING THE      USE     OF     THE      GREAT     SEAL      OF      SCOTLAND 

THE     SCOTS    ARMY    IN     IRELAND    UNDER    LESLIE    AND    MONRO 

THE  MASSACRE THE    RUMOURS  AND    TERRORS     IN    SCOTLAND 

THE    SOLEMN    LEAGUE    AND    COVENANT MONTROSE'S    SCHEME 

GATHERS     A      HIGHLAND      ARMY ARGYLE     AT      INVERLOCHY 

BATTLES     OF    TIBBERMUIR     AND      KILSYTH HIS     FORCE    SCAT- 
TERED   BY    LESLIE   AT    PHILIPHAUGH. 

The  Scots  commissioners  were  one  of  the  chief  cen- 
tres round  which  gathered  the  mighty  excitement  with 
which  London  was  then  seething.  AVhen  they  had 
severally  taken  up  their  abodes,  mostly  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Covent  Garden,  the  city  of  London  de- 
sired the  honour  of  receiving  them  as  guests.  A 
house  was  assigned  to  them  so  close  to  the  Church  of 
St  Anthony,  or  St  Antholin,  as  it  is  popularly  termed, 
that  there  was  a  passage  communicating  between  the 


126  CHARLES    I. 

church  and  the  house.  Henderson,  Blair,  and  Baillie 
gave  their  ministrations  in  that  church  with  zeal  and 
patience,  and  were  repaid  by  popular  admiration,  as 
Clarendon  says  :  "  To  hear  those  sermons  there  was 
so  great  a  conflux  and  resort — by  the  citizens  out  of 
humour  and  faction,  by  others  of  all  qualities  out 
of  curiosity,  and  by  some  that  they  might  the  better 
justify  the  contempt  they  had  of  them — that  from  the 
first  appearance  of  day  in  the  morning  on  every  Sun- 
day to  the  shutting  in  of  the  light  the  church  was 
never  empty.  They,  especially  the  women,  who  had 
the  happiness  to  get  into  the  church  in  the  morning 
(they  who  could  not  hang  upon  or  about  the  windows 
without  to  be  auditors  or  spectators)  keeping  their 
places  till  the  afternoon's  exercise  was  finished."  ^ 

Coming  as  the  assured  allies  of  the  Long  Parliament, 
they  were  at  once  to  witness  the  downfall  of  their  great- 
est enemies.  The  blow  fell  first  on  Strafford.  He  "  came 
but  on  Monday  to  town  late  ;  on  Tuesday  rested ;  on 
Wednesday  came  to  Parliament,  but  ere  night  he  was 
caged.  Intolerable  pride  and  opjDression  cries  to 
heaven  for  a  vengeance.  The  Lower  House  closed 
their  doors  ;  the  Speaker  keeped  the  keys  till  his 
accusation  was  completed."  The  Ayrshire  minister, 
whose  fortune  it  was  to  see  so  much  of  history,  tells 
how  Strafford  came  forth_  into  custody  through  the 
crowd  "  all  gazing,  no  man  capping  to  him,  before 
whom  that  morning  the  greatest  of  England  would 
have  stood  dis-covered."  ^  The  temptation  is  strong  to 
follow  the  same  pen  in  picturesque  description  of  the 
impeachment ;  but  it  is  a  passage  that  belongs  to  a 
wider  history,  and  must  be  forborne. 

'  History,  i.  190  ;  ed.  1843,  p.  76.  "  Baillie's  Letters,  i.  272. 


THE    COVENANTERS    IN    LONDON,    1640-41.       127 

Some  of  the  offences  charged  against  Strafford  were 
founded  on  the  relations  of  England  with  Scotland ; 
but  it  would  seem  that  these  were  inserted  rather  to 
interest  and  propitiate  the  Scots  commissioners  than 
really  to  give  weight  to  the  impeachment.  They  are 
slight  and  rather  incoherent,  balancing  ill  with  the 
desperate  designs  of  tyranny  and  ambition,  at  the  root 
of  the  other  charges.  He  had  called  the  Scots  "  rebels" 
and  "traitors."  He  said  .their  demands  justified  war. 
He  was  ready  to  lead  an  Irish  force  against  them. 
Then,  what  seems  scarcely  in  the  same  tenor,  as 
lieutenant-general  in  the  north,  he  "  did  not  provide 
for  the  defence  of  the  town  of  Newcastle  as  he  ought 
to  have  done,  but  suffered  the  same  to  be  lost,  that  so  he 
might  the  more  incense  the  English  against  the  Scots;" 
and  then,  in  another  turn  of  inconsistency,  it  was  said 
he  forced  his  subordinate  Conway  to  fight  the  Scots  at 
Newburn  with  a  force  insufiicient  for  resistance,  "  out 
of  a  malicious  desire  to  engage  the  kingdoms  of  Eng- 
land and  Scotland  in  a  national  and  bloody  war." 
The  managers  showed  their  sense  of  the  weakness  of 
the  Scots  items  in  the  charge  by  combining  them  in 
the  prosecution  with  some  of  the  heavier  articles,  an 
arrangement  against  which  the  accused  protested.^ 

It  was  encouraging  and  exciting,  no  doubt,  to  see 
one  whose  spirit  was  so  inimical  to  theirs,  and  who 
would  have  crushed  them  if  he  could,  hunted  down 
before  their  eyes ;  but  Laud  was  the  proper  vic- 
tim to  offer  up  to  the  Scots  commissioners.  Baillie 
speedily  found  "  Episcopacy  itself  beginning  to  be 
cried  down  and  a  covenant  to  be  cried  up,  and  the 
Liturgy  to  be  scorned.     The  town  of  London  and  a 

'  state  Trials,  iii.  1,397-1400,  1440-42. 


128  CHARLES    I. 

world  of  men  minds  to  present  a  petition,  which  I  have 
seen,  for  the  abolition  of  bishops,  deans,  and  all  their 
appm^tenances.  It  is  thought  good  to  delay  it  till  the 
Parliament  have  pulled  down  Canterbury  and  some 
prime  bishops,  which  they  mind  to  do  so  soon  as  the 
king  has  a  little  digested  the  bitterness  of  his  lieuten- 
ant's censure.  Huge  things  are  here  in  working — the 
mighty  hand  of  God  be  about  this  great  work  !  We 
hope  this  shall  be  the  joyful  harvest  of  the  tears  that 
these  many  years  have  been  sown  in  these  kingdoms. 
All  here  are  weary  of  bishops.  This  day  a  committee 
of  ten  noblemen  and  three  of  the  most  innocent 
bishops  —  Carlisle,  Salisbury,  Winchester  —  are  ap- 
pointed to  cognosce  by  what  means  our  pacification 
was  broken,  and  who  advised  the  king,  when  he  had 
no  money,  to  enter  in  war  without  consent  of  his 
State.  We  hope  all  shall  go  avcU  above  our  hopes. 
I  hope  they  will  not  neglect  me.  Prayer  is  our  best 
help  ;  for  albeit  all  things  goes  on  here  above  our 
expectation,  yet  how  soon,  if  God  would  but  wink, 
might  the  devil  and  his  manifold  instruments  here 
watching  turn  our  hopes  in  fear  !  "  ^ 

But  in  the  midst  of  these  separate  triumphs  the 
commissioners  did  not  neglect  their  treaty,  and  the 
large  pecuniary  interests  depending  on  it.  It  was 
contested  on  both  sides  with  a  harassing  obstinacy, 
which  it  would  be  tedious  to  follow  step  by  step.  It 
came  to  a  conclusion  on  the  7th  of  August  1641.  The 
principal  provisions  of  the  treaty  were,  that  the  king 
was  to  admit  as  Acts  of  Parliament  those  of  the  Estates 
who  sat  in  1640  Avithout  the  sanction  of  royalty. 
The    "incendiaries,"  or    "those   Avho    had    been   the 

'  Letters,  i.  274. 


THE    TREATY    CONCLUDED,    1641.  129 

authors  and  causes  of  the  late  and  present  combus- 
tions and  troubles,"  were  in  each  nation  to  be  punished 
by  Parliament — a  demand  accepted  by  the  king,  with 
the  explanation  that  "his  majesty  believeth  he  hath 
none  such  about  him."  All  libels  against  the  king's 
"loyal  and  dutiful  subjects  of  Scotland"  were  to  be 
suppressed.  When  the  Scots  army  came  to  be  dis- 
banded, the  fortresses  of  Berwick  and  Carlisle  were  to 
be  reduced  to  their  old  condition.  Not  least  import- 
ant was  "  the  brotherly  assistance  "  to  be  given  by 
England  to  the  Scots  for  their  sufferings  and  services  ; 
this  was  fixed  at  £300,000.^  The  armies  were  then 
disbanded ;  and  when  this  process  was  completed,  the 
city  of  London  held  solemn  rejoicings  for  deliverance 
from  the  war  that  had  impended. 

There  comes  now  one  of  those  incoherent  turns  in 
the  tenor  of  the  Court  policy  which  make  it  so  unsa- 
tisfactory a  task  to  endeavour  to  find  in  it  a  natural 
unity  of  sequence,  one  political  condition  preceding 
another,  as  external  cause  precedes  external  event. 
The  king,  when  the  harassing  business  of  the  Long 
Parliament  had  thickened  round  him,  was  to  visit 
Scotland  and  hold  a  Parliament  there.  He  was 
not  to  go  as  the  offended  monarch,  to  take  stern  ac- 
count of  those  whom  he  had  been  charging  as  trait- 
orous and  disobedient  subjects;  but  in  a  spirit  of 
geniality  and  loving-kindness,  especially  towards  those 
who  had  most  grievously  offended  him. 

Some  secondary  passages  in  the  struggle  had  occur- 
red within  Scotland,  even  at  the  time  when  its  larger 
results  were  looked  to  in  the  question  which  the  Scots 

1  See  Report  of  the  Treaty  brought  up  to  the  Scots  Estates  ;  Act.  Pari., 
V.  337  et  seq. 

VOL.  VII.  I 


I30  CHARLES    I. 

were  to  try  in  England.     The  strength  of  the  ruhng 
party  was  materially  reduced  by  the  removal  of  a  large 
army  into  England.      It  was  naturally  in  the  north- 
east that  symptoms  of  restlessness  first  appeared  ;  and 
there  the  Committee  of  Estates,  with  prompt  energy, 
determined  to  use  what  force  they  could  command,  to 
aid  the  Earl  Marischal,  and  other  supporters  of  the 
Covenant,  who  were  by  themselves  in  a  minority.     In 
May  1640  a  body  of  about  a  thousand  men  marched 
into  Aberdeen  under  the  command  of  General  Monro. 
He,  like  Leslie,  had  been  trained  in  the  great  European 
war ;  but  he  was  a  man  of  inferior  grade  and  nature, 
and  brought  with  him  a  touch  of  the  rapacity  and 
cruelty  that  had  grown  up  in  the  thirty  years'  teach- 
ing.   He  weeded  the  district  of  able-bodied  Malignants 
by  impressing  them    and  sending  them  to  join  the 
army  in  England.     In  a  similar  policy  he  removed  all 
things  that  might  be  turned  to  warlike  purpose — not 
only  arms,  but  tools  adapted  to  sapping  and  mining. 
The  garrulous   town -clerk   renders    with    deplorable 
minuteness   the  various  items  of   exaction  to  which 
his  unfortunate    city  was  again  subjected.^     Monro 
left   behind   him,   as  a  memorial  of  his  visit,  one  of 
those  "  woden  mares  "  which  had  been  invented  by 

^  The  Baxters  and  brewsters  to  have  in  readiness  "12,000  weight  of 
good  bisket-bread,  together  with  1000  gallons  of  ale  and  beer."  The 
commander  desired  that  the  citizens,  "  in  testimony  of  their  hon  accord 
with  the  Soldatista  that  has  come  so  far  a  march  for  their  safeties  from 
the  invasion  of  foreign  enemies,  and  the  slavery  they  or  their  posterity 
may  be  lirought  under,  they  may  be  pleased,  out  of  their  generosity  ac- 
customed, and  present  thankfulness  to  the  Soldatista  for  keeping  good 
order  and  eschewing  of  plundering,  to  provide  for  them  1200  pair  of 
shoes,  together  with  3000  ells  of  harden  ticking  or  sail  canvas,  for  making 
of  tents  to  save  the  Soldatista  from  great  inundation  of  rains  accustomed 
to  fall  out  nnder  this  northern  climate." — Spalding's  Memorials,  i.  275 . 


CONTESTS    IN    THE    NORTH,    1640-41.  131 

the  ingenuity  of  the  German  marauders  as  an  in- 
strument of  torture  at  once  simple  and  effective. 

Monro  having  paid  visits  of  the  same  character  to 
the  country  districts  afflicted  with  Malignancy,  re- 
moved his  force.  A  very  small  body  stationed  in  per- 
manence, with  casual  visits  from  auxiliaries,  might  now 
keep  the  troublesome  district  of  the  north-east  in  due 
order;  but  the  soldiers  themselves  were  sufferers  by  the 
general  poverty  they  had  created.^  If  the  army  sent 
to  England  was  honourably  distinguished  for  piety 
and  decorum,  the  Government  had  now  come  down  to 
the  dregs  of  their  available  forces.  Of  the  perform- 
ances of  the  Covenanting  troops  occasionally  posted  in 
Aberdeen,  we  hear  from  the  town-clerk  of  "  daily  de- 
boshing  "  and  "  drinking,"  "  night-walking,  combating, 
swearing,  and  bringing  sundry  honest  women-servants 
to  great  misery."  It  was  the  hard  fate  of  these  unfor- 
tunates, that  after  they  had  become  the  victims  of  the 
profligacy  of  the  Covenanting  soldiery,  they  came  under 
the  rigid  discipline  of  the  Covenanting  clergy  for  the 
expiation  of  their  frailties.^ 

In  other  parts  of  the  country  the  Malignants  were 

^  So  the  Lord  Sinclair,  coming  with  a  party  of  five  hundred,  "  his 
allowances  was  spent,  and  the  soldiers  put  to  their  shifts.  Aberdeen 
would  grant  them  no  quarters,  since  the  Colonel  Master  of  Forbes's 
regiment  was  already  quartered  there.  Whereupon  ilk  soldier  began 
to  deal  and  do  for  himself.  Some  came  over  to  the  old  town,  where  they 
got  nothing  but  hunger  and  cauld.  Others  spread  through  the  country 
here  and  there  about  the  town,  specially  to  Papists'  lands,  plundering 
their  food,  botli  horse-meat  and  man's  meat,  where  they  could  get  it." — 
Ibid.,  p.  352. 

^  "  Sixty-five  of  this  honest  sisterhood  were  delated  before  the  Church 
courts  ;  twelve  of  them,  after  being  paraded  through  the  streets  by  the 
hangman,  were  banished  from  the  burgh.  Several  were  imprisoned  in  a 
loathsome  vault,  while  others  more  fortunate  found  safety  in  flight." — 
Book  of  Bon  Accord,  68. 


132  CHARLES    I. 

cliastised  by  a  rod  of  a  different  kind.  The  prospect 
I  if  an  invasion  by  an  army  of  the  wild  Irish,  sent  Ijy 
Strafford,  gave  occasion  for  guarding  the  west  coast. 
It  fell  to  the  two  chief  potentates  of  the  district, 
Eglinton  and  Argyle,  to  command  the  troops  embodied 
for  that  purpose,  who  were  chiefly,  if  not  entirely, 
their  own  vassals  or  followers.  Of  Eglinton,  Avho  kept 
a  force  ready  in  the  Ayrshire  Lowlands,  we  hear  no- 
thing ;  but  Argyle,  having  a  force  so  conveniently 
in  hand  for  which  there  was  no  immediate  work,  took 
the  occasion  to  harry  the  territories  of  his  feudal  and 
political  enemies. 

The  warrant  on  which  he  acted  was  that  savage 
writ  so  aptly  named  "  a  commission  of  fire  and  sword." 
It  was  issued  by  the  Committee  of  Estates.  It  set 
forth  how  "  the  Earl  of  Athole  and  the  Lord  Ogilvie, 
with  their  accomplices" — the  Farquharsons  on  the 
Braes  of  Mar,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Badenoch,  Loch- 
aber,  and  Eannoch — had  "  not  only  proven  enemies  to 
religion,  but  also  had  proven  unnatural  to  their  coun- 
try." Therefore  it  was  meet  that  Argyle  should 
"  pursue  them,  and  every  one  of  them,  in  all  hostile 
manner  by  fire  and  sword,  aye  and  until  he  should 
either  bring  them  to  their  bounden  duty,  and  give 
assurance  of  the  same  by  pledges  or  otherwise,  or  else 
to  the  utter  subduing  and  rooting  them  out  of  the 
country."  To  this  end  he  raised  four  thousand  men.^ 
He  swept  the  mountain  district  lying  between  his  own 
territories  and  the  east  coast,  and  came  down  upon  the 
half-Highland  districts  of  the  Braes  of  Angus,  where 
he  attacked  the  Ogilvies  in  their  strongholds.  It 
appears  to  have  been  in  this  expedition  that  the  Castle 

'  Act   of  Ratification   and   Exoneration  in   favours   of  the  Earl  of 
Argyle  ;  Act.  Pari.,  v.  398. 


CONTESTS    IN    THE    NORTH,    1640-41.  133 

of  Airlie  was  burned — an  incident  giving  rise  to  one  of 
the  most  stirring  of  the  Scottish  ballads  of  the  heroic 
type.  We  have  little  knowledge  of  the  actual  events 
of  this  raid,  except  from  the  two  northern  annalists, 
who  were  no  friends  of  Argyle  and  his  cause.^ 

In  all  such  affairs  there  Avas  limitless  plunder,  de- 
struction, and  bloodshed.  The  northern  authorities, 
however,  are  surely  to  be  doubted  when  they  say  that 
subordinates  desired  to  spare,  but  the  leader  was 
obdurate.^  Whatever  of  the  destructive  might  be 
found  in  the  leaders  of  such  Highland  hosts,  mercy 
and  moderation  were  not  among  the  qualities  of  the 
followers.  However  it  came,  there  must  have  been 
things  done  on  this  expedition  for  which  Argyle  did  not 
feel  quite  at  ease,  since  he  sought  an  indemnity  from 
that  Parliament  in  which  his  influence  was  supreme. 
Had  his  castigation  been  limited  to  the  Highlanders, 
he  need  have  felt  no  misgiving.  "  Some  Highland 
limmers — broken  out  of  Lochaber,  Clangregor,  out  of 
Athole,  Brae  of  Mar,  and  divers  other  places" — had 

^  Gordon's  Soots  Affairs,  iii.  165  ;  Spalding's  Memorials,  i.  291. 

^  The  following  passage  deserves  attention,  as  attesting  the  hitterness 
of  spirit  in  the  age  when  one  whom  many  adored  as  a  saint  and  martyr 
could  be  so  spoken  of.  Argyle  had  sent  one  of  his  followers  called 
Sergeant  Camphell  to  attack  Craigie,  the  house  of  Lord  John  Ogilvie. 
The  sergeant  returned,  saying  there  was  a  sick  woman  in  tlie  house,  and 
it  was  not  a  place  of  strength,  "  and  therefore  he  conceived  it  fell  not 
within  his  order  to  cast  it  down.  Argyle  fell  in  some  chaffe  with  the 
sergeant,  telling  him  that  it  was  his  part  to  have  obeyed  his  orders ;  and 
instantly  commanded  him  back  again,  and  cansed  him  deface  and  sijoil 
the  house.  At  the  sergeant's  parting  with  him,  Argyle  was  remarked 
by  such  as  were  near  for  to  have  turned  away  from  Sergeant  Campbell 
with  some  disdain,  repeating  the  Latin  political  maxim,  Abscindantur 
qui  nos  perturhant — a  maxim  which  many  thought  that  he  practised 
accurately,  which  he  did  upon  the  account  of  the  proverb  consequential 
thereunto,  and  which  is  the  reason  of  the  former,  which  Argyle  was  re- 
marked to  have  likewise  often  in  his  mouth  as  a  choice  aphorism,  and 
well  observed  by  statesmen,  Quod  mortui  non  mordent." — Gordon's 
Scots  Affairs,  iii.  166. 


134  CHARLES    I. 

just  been  at  their  old  work,  reiving  the  lands  of  loyal 
friends  of  the  Covenant ;  and  whoever  could  extirpate 
them  was  welcome  to  the  task,  and  deserved  thanks.^ 
But  the  Lowland  Ogilvies  were  within  the  pale  of  the 
law,  such  as  it  was.  Some  of  the  Acts,  from  the  con- 
sequences of  which  the  indemnity  protects  him,  are 
broad  and  strong  enough  to  cover  much  mischief,  thus 
— for  attacking  towers,  fortalices,  and  other  houses, 
"  or  demolishing  of  the  same  to  the  ground,  or  burn- 
ing of  the  same,  or  putting  of  fii'e  thereintil,  or  other- 
wise sacking  and  destroying  of  the  same  howsoever, 
or  for  putting  of  whatsoever  person  or  persons  to 
torture  or  question,  or  putting  of  any  person  or  persons 
to  death,  at  any  time  the  said  eighteenth  day  of  June 
and  the  said  second  day  of  August  thereafter ;  and 
declares  these  presents  to  be  ane  sufficient  warrant  to 
all  and  whatsoever  judges,  civil  or  criminal,  for  ex- 
onering  and  assoyling  the  said  Earl  of  Argyle  and  all 
and  whatsomever  his  colonels,  captains,  commanders, 
and  whole  body  of  the  army,  and  to  their  servants, 
men,  boys,  and  followers  in  the  said  army  during  the 
space  foresaid."  ^ 

These  affairs  were  over  before  the  king's  arrival. 
He  had  left  behind  him  gloom,  discord,  and  apprehen- 
sion. In  the  vast  incongruous  city,  from  the  leaders 
of  the  Government  down  to  the  London  'prentices, 
every  face  was  hostile.  He  left  there  the  dead  body 
of  that  stern,  faithful  minister  of  his  will,  who  for 
that  very  stern  fidelity  was  put  to  death.  Was  he  to 
find  a  bright  contrast  to  all  this  in  Scotland  ?  On  the 
surface  it  was  so.     Thorough  tranquillity  seemed  to 

'  Spalding's  Memorials,  i.  291. 

'•^  Acts  of  Pari,  (revised  edition),  v.  399.     The  document  is  long  and 
elaborately  technical. 


PARLIAMENT,    1641.  135 

reign.  The  chance  of  war  with  England  had  passed 
— the  intestine  broils  were  at  an  end  for  the  time. 
In  the  almost  poetic  Avords  of  the  Estates,  there 
was  "  a  quiet,  calm,  and  comfortable  peace "  over 
the  land.^ 

Queen  Henrietta  told  that  she  had  good  news  from 
her  husband  at  last.  He  "  writes  me  word  he  has  been 
very  well  received  in  Scotland;  and  that  both  the 
army  and  the  people  have  showed  a  great  joy  to  see 
the  king — and  such  that  they  say  was  never  seen  be- 
fore :  pray  God  it  may  continue."  ^ 

He  was  to  meet  the  Estates,  not  in  the  old  sordid 
building  where  he  had  left  them  nine  years  ago,  but 
in  the  great  new  hall  worthy  to  receive  the  assembled 
powers  of  a  great  nation.  There  was  to  be  none  of 
the  frowning  by  the  king,  and  muttered  grumbling  of 
the  Estates,  which  had  announced  the  coming  storm  in 
that  last  Parliament.  All  swept  onwards  with  a  cur- 
rent as  of  unanimity  and  harmony.  But  in  reality 
these  bright  aspects  were  due  to  the  utter  isolation 
and  helplessness  of  the  poor  king.  The  Estates  car- 
ried all  before  them  with  a  force  so  irresistible  that,- 
while  driven  before  them,  he  appeared  to  lead  them. 
There  was  throughout  all  their  transactions  an  ex- 
uberant expression  of  loyalty  and  worship.  Every 
one  of  those  statutes  which  he  would  have  resisted 
had  there  been  any  hope  in  resistance,  began  with 
the  words  "  our  sovereign  lord,"  the  part  performed 
by  the  Estates  modestly  following  as  subordinate  and 
supplementary.  Things  done  which  it  must  have 
cost  him  unutterable  bitterness  to  witness  in  his 
helplessness,  are  what   "  his  majesty  was  graciously 

1  Acts  of  Pari.,  v.  341. 

^  The  queen  to  Sir  Edward  Nicholas  ;  Evelyn's  Memoirs,  v.  4, 


136  CHARLES    I. 

pleased"  to  do  upon  the  "humble  remonstrance"  or 
"  humble  supplication  "  of  the  Estates. 

The  farce  of  co-operation  and  harmonious  action 
was  played  throughout  by  all  the  actors  with  great 
success.  The  king,  in  his  speech  from  the  throne, 
expressed  his  regret  for  the  unlucky  differences,  now 
happily  at  an  end,  by  which  the  land  had  been  dis- 
tracted. "  The  end,"  he  said,  "  of  my  coming  is 
shortly  this — to  perfect  whatsoever  I  have  promised, 
and  withal  to  quiet  those  distractions  which  have 
and  may  fall  out  amongst  you  :  and  this  I  mind  not 
superficially,  but  fully  and  cheerfully  to  do ;  for  I 
assure  you  that  I  can  do  nothing  with  more  cheerful- 
ness than  to  give  my  people  content  and  general 
satisfaction."  Biu^leigh,  the  president,  in  name  of  the 
House,  "  made  a  pretty  speech  to  his  majesty  of  thanks 
for  all  the  former  demonstrations  of  his  goodness  ; "  and 
Argyle  followed  with  "a  short  and  pithy  harangue, 
comparing  this  kingdom  to  a  ship  tossed  in  a  tempest- 
uous sea  these  years  bypast ;  and  seeing  his  majesty 
had,  like  a  skilful  pilot,  in  the  times  of  most  danger, 
stirred  her  through  so  many  rocks  and  shoals  to  safe 
anchor,  he  did  humbly  entreat  his  majesty  that  now 
he  would  not  leave  her  —  since  that  for  her  safety 
he  had  given  way  to  cast  off  some  of  the  naughtiest 
baggage  to  lighten  her — but  be  graciously  pleased  to 
settle  her  in  her  secure  station  and  harbour  again.  "-^ 

In  the  British  empire  of  the  present  day,  when  there 
comes  a  telling  majority  in  the  House  of  Commons 
against  ministers,  there  is  an  inversion  of  the  political 
conditions.  There  was  now  a  like  phenomenon  in 
Scotland,   but  of  a  more  convulsive   character.     The 

'  Balfour's  Annals,  iii.  42. 


PARLIAMENT,    1641.  137 

men  who  were  to  come  into  power  had  not  merely 
voted  against  his  majesty's  advisers,  but  had  been  at 
war  with  his  army.  Leslie  was  created  Earl  of  Leven, 
and  largely  endowed.  The  Earl  of  Argyle  became 
Marquess.  Loudon,  recently  released  from  the  Tower, 
was  made  Chancellor.  The  Court  of  Session  was 
recast,  to  admit  friends  of  the  Covenant,  with  John- 
ston of  Warriston  among  them ;  and  generally  the 
men  intrusted  with  any  fragment  of  political  power 
were  selected  from  those  who  were  counted  safe  men 
by  the  party  which  had  now  been  for  three  years 
supreme  in  Scotland. 

Bacon,  who  admired  "  the  excellent  brevity  "  of  the 
old  Scots  Acts,  did  not  live  to  see  the  work  of  this  Par- 
liament. Even  the  prolific  legislation  of  our  present 
sessions,  which  cause  so  much  ridicule  and  grumbling, 
is  not  only  anticipated  but  exceeded,  if  we  take  the 
number  of  Acts  passed,  and  the  variety  of  matters 
disposed  of  by  them.  The  session  began  on  the 
1 3th  of  May  and  ended  on  the  7th  of  November ; 
but  even  had  it  lasted  a  whole  year,  there  might 
have  been  a  good  account  for  every  day,  since  the 
last  Act  is  the  three  hundred  and  sixty-fifth  in  num- 
ber. It  must  not  be  supposed  that  each  one  of  these 
was  a  piece  of  legislation  like  a  modern  Act  of  Parlia- 
ment. There  were  among  them  inquiries  into  criminal 
charges  or  rumours,  adjustments  of  title  or  precedence, 
of  privileges,  of  social  usages,  and  the  like.  It  wo\ild  be 
difficult,  indeed,  to  name  any  class  of  public  business 
not  to  be  found  in  the  records  of  that  Parliament.  It 
seemed,  indeed,  as  if  the  Estates  were  jealous  or  afraid 
of  any  institution  of  the  State  acting  separately  and 
in  its  own  place.      The  business  was  done,  no  doubt. 


13S  CHARLES    I. 

by  tlie  officers  of  the  Crown  ;  but  it  had  to  be  doue  in 
the  presence  of  tlie  States,  and  to  be  completed  by 
their  vote. 

In  England  much  of  this  work  would  be  called  a 
direct  usurpation  of  the  prerogative  of  the  Crown 
and  the  functions  of  the  established  courts  of  justice. 
In  Scotland  it  could  not  be  so  simply  and  distinctly 
characterised.  The  Scots  Estates  had  always  claimed 
the  right  of  supremacy,  not  only  in  legislation,  but  in 
the  judicial  and  executive  departments.  When,  in  a 
country  with  a  mixed  government,  the  jJublic  business 
enlarges  with  increased  wealth  and  civilisation,  the 
additions  made  to  such  business  will  fall  into  the 
hands  of  that  element  in  the  government  which  is 
the  strongest.  Many  of  the  powers  appropriated  by 
this  Parliament  had  been  exercised  by  the  Crown  at 
least  since  the  Union  of  1603  ;  but  it  is  not  so  clear 
that  they  were  the  exclusive  possession  of  the  Crown 
in  earlier  days.  The  Crown,  tampering  with  the  selec- 
tion and  powers  of  committees,  had  made  the  Lords 
of  the  Articles  supreme,  and  had  almost  achieved  the 
appointment  of  them.  All  the  business  of  the  Estates 
was  transacted  by  them ;  and  it  was  coming  to  the 
point,  that  when  they  were  appointed,  the  Estates  at 
large  had  nothing  further  to  do  but  to  meet  once,  and 
either  pass  or  reject  the  measures  brought  to  maturity 
by  the  Lords  of  the  Articles.  The  Estates  at  their  pre- 
vious session  took  the  opportunity  of  recasting  the  con- 
stitution of  this  powerful  committee.  Each  Estate  was 
to  choose  its  own  representative  on  the  Articles,  and  the 
^\4lole  body  were  only  to  do  such  work  as  was  assigned 
to  them  by  the  Estates  at  large.^     The  profuse  busi- 

1  Acts  of  Pari.,  v.  278. 


PARLIAMENT,    1641.  139 

ness  transacted  in  the  Parliament  of  1641  seems  to 
have  been  worked  through  open  committees — that  is 
to  say,  certain  groups  of  memloers  were  named  as 
responsible  for  bringing  the  business  to  maturity ;  but 
any  other  members  might  attend  their  meetings,  either 
to  keep  a  watch  on  what  they  did  or  to  offer  sugges- 
tions. There  was  a  committee  to  "revise  all  articles" 
presented  during  the  session,  but  merely  that  those 
chosen  from  each  Estate  "may  give  account  thereof 
to  their  own  body."  ^  An  Act  of  "  pacification  and 
oblivion  "  was  passed,  declaring,  in  a  style  not  usual 
in  Acts  of  Parliament,  that  "  such  things  as  have  fallen 
forth  in  these  tumultuous  times,  while  laws  were 
silent,  whether  prejudicial  to  his  majesty's  honour  and 
authority,  or  to  the  laws  and  liberties  of  the  Church 
and  kingdom,  or  the  particular  interest  of  the  subject, 
which  to  examine  in  a  strict  court  of  justice  might 
prove  ane  hindrance  to  a  perfect  peace,  might  be 
buried  in  perpetual  oblivion."^  Criminals  and  "broken 
men  "  in  the  Highlands  Avere,  as  usual,  excepted  from 
the  indemnity;  and  it  was  provided  that  its  benefit 
"shall  no  ways  be  extended  to  any  of  the  Scottish 
prelates,  or  to  John  Earl  of  Traquair,  Sir  Robert 
Spottiswood,  Sir  John  Hay,  and  Master  Walter  Bal- 
canquall,  cited  and  pursued  as  incendiaries  betwixt 
the  kingdoms  and  betwixt  the  king  and  his  people. "  •' 
It  may  be  remembered  that  Balcanquall's  crime  was 
the  literary  assistance  rendered  by  him  to  the  king  in 
the  composition  of  his  Declaration.  These  four,  along 
with  Maxwell,  Bishoj)  of  Eoss,  were  then  undergoing 
harassing  treatment  as  "incendiaries." 

One  of  the  points  which  the  Estates  had  determined 

1  Acts  of  Pari.,  v.  333,  334.  =  Ibid.,  341.  ^  Ibid.,  342. 


I40  CHARLES    I. 

to  carry  was  the  appointment  by  themselves  of  all 
public  officers.  The  Secret  Council  and  the  Court 
of  Session  were  recast,  the  appointments  being  made 
in  two  separate  Acts.^  In  a  general  Act  applicable 
to  Government  offices  at  large,  the  king's  power  of 
appointment  is  treated  with  all  reverence  ;  but  at  the 
same  time  it  is  to  be  exercised  in  each  instance  "  with 
the  advice  and  approbation"  of  the  Estates.^  One 
can  see  under  the  decorous  surface  of  the  Parlia- 
mentary proceedings,  especially  with  the  aid  of  a  diary 
of  the  sittings  kept  by  the  Lord  Lyon,  that  these 
concessions  were  extracted  from  the  king  by  sheer  force 
attended  by  many  a  bitter  pang.  He  had  struggled 
for  the  retention  of  the  Crown  patronage  when  its 
removal  was  first  suggested  at  the  treaty  of  Eipon; 
and  the  words  in  which  he  gave  his  reasons  for  ac- 
quiescence, when  the  demand  was  put  for  the  last  time, 
and  was  not  to  be  resisted,  are  a  sorry  attempt  to 
express  contentment  and  approval  :  "  His  majesty's 
answer  was,  that  since  by  their  answer  to  his  doubts 
proposed  on  Monday,  they  manifestly  show  to  every 
one — as  well  believed  by  him — that  to  their  knowledge 
they  woxdd  never  derogate  to  anything  from  his  just 
power,  and  that  the  chief  ground  of  their  demand  was 
upon  the  just  sense  they  had  of  his  necessary  absence 
from  this  country,  which  otherwise  but  for  the  sup- 
plying of  that  want  they  would  forbear  to  press,  — 
therefore,  not  to  delay  more  time,  his  answer  was 
briefly  that  he  accepted  that  paper."  ^ 

If  by  these  Acts  the  Estates  took  more  power  than 
they  ever  had  under  the  separate  kings  of  Scotland, 
the  national  jealousy  of  English  influence  must  be  re- 

1  Acts  of  Pari.,  \-.  388,  .389.       ^  Ibid.,  .354.        '  Balfour's  Annals,  iii.  64. 


PARLIAMENT,    1641.  141 

membered.  Four  years  had  not  elapsed  since  William 
Laud,  Archbisliop  of  Canterbury,  was  the  ruler  of 
Scotland,  in  so  far  as  to  control  those  large  policies  in 
which  the  vital  interests  and  aspirations  of  the  people 
centred.  There  were,  indeed,  members  of  the  Estates 
who  at  that  very  time  were  ransacking  the  public 
documents,  and  discovering  evidence  of  his  mis- 
chievous tampering  with  the  Scots  national  affairs — 
evidence  collected  for  the  completion  of  the  charges 
on  which  the  hapless  intermeddler  was  brought  to  the 
block.  One  sees  in  the  inner  life  of  the  history  of  that 
period  how  closely  all  that  was  done  in  Scotland  was 
watched  from  England  ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  avoid 
the  conclusion,  that  these  Acts  of  the  Scots  Estates 
were  in  the  minds  of  the  commoners  of  England 
when  they  superseded  the  regal  executive,  and  ruled 
through  the  authority  of  Parliament.^ 

But  even  the  superficial  harmony  which  clothed 
this  Parliament  did  not  abide  with  it  throughout ; 

1  The  king's  faithful  servant,  Sir  Edward  Nicholas,  writing  to  him  on 
the  influence  of  these  affairs  on  England,  says,  on  24th  September : 
"Your  majesty  may  be  pleased  to  procure  from  the  Parliament  there 
some  farther  reiteration  of  their  declaration,  that  what  your  majesty  hath 
consented  unto  concerning  the  election  of  officers  there  may  not  be  drawn 
into  example  to  your  majesty's  prejudice  here  ;  for,  if  I  am  not  misin- 
formed, there  will  be  some  attempt  to  procure  the  like  Act  here  concern- 
ing officers,  before  the  Act  of  tonnage  and  poundage  will  be  passed  to 
your  majesty  for  life." — Evelyn's  Correspondence,  v.  35.  Again,  on  5th 
October :  "  It  is  advertised  from  Edinburgh  that  your  majesty  hath 
nominated  the  Lord  Lothian  [Loudon]  to  be  Chancellor.  Whatsoever 
the  news  be  that  is  come  hither  amongst  the  party  of  the  protesters, 
they  are  observed  to  be  here  of  late  very  jocund  and  cheerful ;  and  it  is 
conceived  to  arise  from  some  advertisements  out  of  Scotland,  from  whose 
actions  and  successes  they  intend,  as  I  hear,  to  take  a  pattern  for  their 
proceedings  here  at  their  next  meeting."  On  the  margin  of  this  the 
king  puts  the  ominous  comment :  "  I  believe,  before  all  be  done,  that 
they  will  not  have  such  great  cause  of  joy."— Ibid.,  4L 


142  CHARLES    I. 

and  Avlien  the  Estates  separated  it  was  in  strife, 
and  with  forebodings  of  a  stormy  future.  There 
had  been  gathering  among  the  leaders  of  the  Cove- 
nanters a  suspicion,  coloured  by  a  vague  fear,  that 
they  had  enemies  within  their  own  camp.  These 
pointed  at  last  with  precision  to  Montrose,  the  Lord 
Napier,  and  Stirling  of  Keir.  All  executive  steps 
by  that  Parliament  were  taken  not  only  in  his 
majesty's  name,  but  through  his  majesty's  proper 
officers  of  State.  His  Lord  Advocate,  Sir  Thomas 
Hope,  was  on  the  24th  of  July  directed  to  take  steps 
against  the  suspected  men,  and  they  were  committed 
to  the  castle.^  Besides  a  certain  letter  written  by 
Montrose  to  the  king,  the  offence  laid  against  the 
three  collectively  was  ostensibly  nothing  more  than 
the  furtherance  of  a  document  called  '  The  Cumber- 
nauld Band.'  This  is  a  short  document  of  general 
words  and  protestations  ;  and  these  are  all  in  support 
of  the  Covenant,  "  which  we  have  so  solemnly  sworn 
and  already  signed."  But  this  supplemental  covenant 
referred,  as  the  cause  of  its  existence,  to  "  the  particular 
and  direct  practising  of  a  few  "  as  thwarting  the  cause 
of  the  original  Covenant.  Something  was  meant  here; 
for  practical  men  like  the  adherents  to  the  Cumber- 
nauld Band  do  not  sign  and  then  carefully  keep  out 
of  sight  empty  declarations  of  sentiment  intending  to 
bear  no  fruit ;  and  the  Estates  applied  to  the  occasion 

^  Of  necessity  a  prosecution  by  tlie  king's  advocate  against  persons 
charged  with  conniving  treason  along  vfith  his  majesty,  was  something 
so  novel  that  it  demanded  novelty  in  the  formalities.  The  Estates 
embodied  their  instruction  in  an  "  Act  and  warrant "  addressed  to  the 
Lord  Advocate,  Sir  Thomas  Nicolson,  and  the  "procurators,"  or  solicitors 
chosen  for  the  occasion,  "  to  draw  up  the  said  summons,  and  to  insist  in 
consulting  and  pleading  in  the  said  process  and  hail  proceedings  thereof 
to  the  final  end  of  the  same." — Acts  of  Pari,  (reschinded),  v.  316. 


THE    CUMBERNAULD    BAND,    1641.  143 

tlie  rule  adopted  by  the  Tables,  that  none  of  the 
adherents  of  the  Covenant  should  make  separate  com- 
binations with  each  other.  Baillie  saw  so  much 
perilous  matter  in  the  affair  that  he  was  constrained 
to  call  it  "  the  damnable  band."  At  the  time  there 
was  no  getting  beyond  mere  suspicion,  but  we  now 
know  that  Montrose  had  gone  over  to  the  king's 
party.  It  was  said  that  he  had  gone  to  the  king  at 
that  time  when  the  king  desired  a  personal  meeting 
with  fourteen  Scots  leaders,  and  that  his  Covenanting 
virtue  had  yielded  to  the  royal  smile.  It  has  been 
proved  that  in  the  autumn  or  winter  of  1639  he  was 
in  correspondence  with  the  king.^  What  we  have  of 
it  does  not  contain  any  offer  by  Montrose  to  betray 
the  cause  for  which  he  professed  a  high  enthusiasm, 
but  at  the  same  time  it  does  not  tell  or  hint  that 
the  writer  is  incorruptible.  And  a  correspondence 
between  the  head  of  one  party  in  a  war  and  the  leader 
in  the  opposite  camp  is  a  phenomenon  that  does  not 
exist  without  an  object.  Burnet,  in  one  of  his  morsels 
of  picturesque  gossip,  tells  us,  that  before  the  treaty 
of  Ripon,  when  the  Scots  had  despatches  to  send  to  the 
king's  Court  at  York — and  such  things  were  always 
vigilantly  examined  before  they  were  sent  away — Sir 
Eichard  Graham  opening  one  of  these  packets,  a  letter 
fell  from  it.  Sir  James  Mercer,  at  whose  feet  the  letter 
fell,  in  politeness  picked  it  up,  and  by  the  glance  he  got 
while  restoring  it,  observed  that  it  was  addressed  to 
the  king  in  the  handwriting  of  Montrose.^  Montrose 
was  arraigned  on  a  charge  of  corresponding  with  the 
enemy,  but  extricated  himself  cleverly  by  demanding 

1  Napier's  Memoirs  of  the  Marquis  of  Montrose  (1856),  i.  227,  228. 
^  Memoirs  of  Duke  of  Hamilton,  179. 


144  CHARLES    I. 

if  his  accusers  were  prepared,  contrary  to  all  their 
announcements  of  loyalty,  to  count  the  king  their 
enemy. 

There  is  scarcely  anything  to  be  gained  by  attempt- 
ing to  trace  too  closely  the  motives  on  which  a  man 
has  changed  sides.  He  would  often  find  it  hard  to 
discover  them  himself.  There  were  things  in  his 
career  that  may  have  soured  his  spirit  towards  his 
coadjutors.  James  Graham,  Earl  of  Montrose,  was 
twenty-five  years  old  when  he  let  loose  his  vehement 
zeal  for  the  Covenant  in  1637.  He  led  with  success 
the  parties  sent  by  the  Covenanters  to  intimidate  the 
north.  His  rank,  and  probably  his  military  capacity, 
were  sufficient  to  get  him  these  small  commands;  and 
he  had  the  sagacious  Leslie  to  help  him  with  military 
experience.  In  so  serious  an  affair,  however,  as  the 
invasion  of  England,  the  Tables  wisely  decided  against 
all  patrician  claims,  and  would  trust  their  fine  army 
to  no  one  but  a  trained  and  successful  soldier.  A 
young  man,  ardent  and  inexperienced,  was  not  the 
one  to  be  intrusted  with  such  a  command.  He  saw 
his  subordinate  set  over  him,  and  he  was  not  one  of 
the  temper  to  take  any  slight  with  dutiful  humility. 
Then  he  was  in  bad  blood  with  Argyle,  and  there 
were  counter-charges  between  them.  Montrose  or  his 
friends  charged  on  Argyle  how  he  had  uttered  words 
importing  that  kings  were  of  no  use,  and  King  Charles 
might  be  deposed — the  inference  being,  that  he  him- 
self would  in  some  way  virtually  fill  the  empty  throne. 
No  doubt  Argyle  was  an  ambitious  man,  and  inscrut- 
able in  his  projects  and  policy.  It  would  be  hard 
to  say  what  visions  would  in  a  time  of  contest  and 
confusion  dawn  on  him  who  commanded  the  largest 


THE    INCIDENT,    1641.  145 

following  in  Scotland.  His  territory  was  almost 
identically  the  same  with  that  of  the  race  whose  rule 
had  afterwards  spread  all  over  the  country.  But  Scot- 
land was  not  then,  or  ever  during  the  civil  wars,  in  a 
humour  to  depose  the  king.  In  the  words  of  one 
who  gave  well-penned  counsel  to  the  king  at  the  time 
— believed  by  some  to  have  been  Montrose  himself : 
"They  have  no  other  end  but  to  preserve  their  reli- 
gion in  purity  and  their  liberties  entire.  That  they 
intend  the  overthrow  of  monarchical  government  is 
a  calumny.  They  are  capable  of  no  other,  for  many 
and  great  reasons ;  and  ere  they  will  admit  another 
than  your  majesty,  and  after  you  your  son  and  nearest 
of  posterity,  to  sit  on  that  throne,  many  thousands  of 
them  will  spend  their  dearest  blood.  You  are  not  like 
a  tree  lately  planted  which  oweth  the  fall  to  the  first 
wind.  Your  ancestors  have  governed  there,  without 
interruption  of  race,  two  thousand  years  or  thereabout, 
and  taken  such  deep  root  as  it  can  never  be  plucked 
up  by  any  but  yourselves."^ 

Driving  King  Charles  from  the  throne  of  Scotland 
was  a  plot  for  which  there  were  no  materials,  whether 
it  were  devised  by  Argyle  or  any  other  person.  The 
talk  about  it  seems  to  have  come  from  Argyle's  main- 
taining, as  others  did,  that  the  Acts  of  the  Estates 
in  their  session  of  1640  were  valid  law,  without  the 
royal  assent,  either  by  the  presence  of  a  commissioner 
or  the  king's  acknowledgment  of  the  Acts.  There 
was  enough  of  reality  in  the  charges  and  counter- 
charges to  bring  one  poor  man  to  his  death.  A  certain 
Captain  James  Stewart  bore  witness  to  the  uttering  of 
the  treasonable  words  by  Argyle,  and  afterwards  re- 

1  Napier's  Memorials  of  Montrose  and  his  Time,  i.  268. 
VOL.  VII.  K 


146  CHARLES    I. 

tracted  his  testimony.  On  the  fact  that  he  had  made 
the  false  charge,  he  Avas  brought  to  trial  for  "  leasing- 
makino-,"  convicted,  and  executed.  The  law  for  this 
cruel  sentence  was  the  same  that  had  been  stretched 
for  the  conviction  of  Lord  Balmerinoch,  one  of  the  first 
aggressions  of  the  prerogative  by  the  ministers  of  King 
Charles.  Its  character  was  now  subject  to  a  cross- 
testing,  since  the  powers  of  the  king's  prerogative  had 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  those  who  were  the  king's 
opponents.  The  leasing  -  making  of  the  old  Acts 
Avas  in  spreading  rumours  that  might  cause  discord 
between  the  king  and  his  subjects ;  and  it  might 
either  be  in  circulating  false  charges  against  the  king, 
or  in  bringing  to  him  false  charges  against  any  of  his 
subjects ; — this  was  the  shape  in  which  the  charge 
visited  Stewart. 

The  execution  of  Stewart  would  have  passed  as  the 
necessary  sacrifice  of  an  insignificant  person  Avho  had 
brought  on  his  fate  by  excess  of  zeal,  and  probably 
the  excitement  about  the  counter-accusation  would  soon 
have  Avorn  itself  out,  but  for  an  auxiliary  incident. 
This  came  when,  one  day  in  October,  all  Edinburgh 
Avas  awakened  to  lively  excitement  by  the  rumour 
that  there  Avas  a  plot  for  either  kidnapping  or  murder- 
ing Hamilton,  Argyle,  and  Hamilton's  brother  the 
Lord  Lanark  ;  and  that  they  had  all  fled  for  personal 
safety.  There  Avas  a  Parliamentary  investigation  into 
the  matter,  but  all  that  it  has  left  for  inquirers  in  the 
present  day  is  chaotic  contradiction  and  confusion. 
It  is  one  of  the  investigations  which,  for  some  reason 
or  other,  Avas  either  A^TCcked  or  so  steered  as  to  reach 
no  conclusion.  The  fragmentary  notices  of  the  debates 
on  this  aff'air,  which  received  both  in  Parliament  and 


THE    INCIDENT,    1641.  147 

history  the  name  of  "the  Incident"  are  incoherent, 
and  at  the  same  time  temptingly  suggestive. 

Taking  up  the  matter  in  meeting  after  meeting  of 
the  whole  House,  the  Estates  seem  to  have  lost  all 
hold  on  order  and  the  forms  of  business — a  fate  likely 
to  befall  a  representative  assembly  which  had  just 
recast  itself,  and  adopted  new  powers  and  methods 
of  transacting  business.  The  king  seems  to  have  been 
carried  olf  in  the  torrent  of  debate  ;  and  we  find  him 
in  strange  attitudes — at  one  time  demanding  things 
which  appear  not  to  be  conceded  to  him ;  at  another 
pleading  his  innocence,  as  if  he  were  arraigned  on 
suspicion  before  some  popular  tribunal.  On  one  point 
there  is  a  clear  debate  between  two  opposites ;  but 
though  clear,  it  is  in  so  shallow  a  part  of  the  whole 
affair  as  to  afford  no  valuable  revelation.  This  is  on 
the  question  whether  the  investigation  that  must  be 
made  should  be  undertaken  by  the  whole  House,  or 
referred  to  a  committee  sitting  with  closed  doors.  The 
king  at  once  emphatically  spoke  for  open  inquiry  by 
the  whole  House.  ^  As  the  discussion  went  on  he 
continued  passionately  to  demand  an  inquiry  by  the 

1  See  Balfour's  Annals,  iii.  94  et  seq.  "  A  Relation  of  the  Incident," 
Hardwicke's  State  Papers,  ii.  299.     Napier  Memorials,  i.  245  et  seq. 

'  The  discussion  brought  out  this  curious  dialogue  : — 

"  Sir  Thomas  Hope  said  :  '  In  such  a  business  the  most  secret  way 
was  the  best  way;  and  yet  both  ways  were  legal,  and  the  Parliament 
had  it  in  their  power  which  of  the  two  ways,  either  public  or  private,  to 
do  it  —  but  for  secret  and  exact  trial  the  private  way  was  rmdoubtedly 
the  best  way.' 

"  His  majesty  answered  :  '  If  men  were  so  charitable  as  not  to  believe 
false  rumours,  Sir  Thomas,  I  would  be  of  your  mind ;  but  however  the 
matter  go,  I  must  see  myself  get  fair  play.'  He  added  that  he  protested 
that  if  it  came  to  a  committee,  that  neither  his  honour  nor  these  inter- 
ested could  have  right,  Nam  aliquid  semper  adherehit."  — Balfour's 
Annals,  iii.  107. 


148  CHARLES    I. 

whole  House ;  he  said  "  he  behoved  still  to  urge 
that  which  he  would  not  delay  to  any  of  his  subjects, 
Avhich  was  a  public,  exact,  and  speedy  trial."  ^  The 
expression  was  an  apt  one,  for  it  is  visible  through  all 
the  confused  debate  that  the  king  felt  himself  to 
be  virtually  on  his  trial.  The  Chancellor  had  visited 
the  fugitives.  He  said  "he  had  humbly  on  his 
knees  begged  his  majesty's  leave  to  go  to  them.  He 
said  that  he  had  been  with  them,  and  they  humbly 
besought  each  member  of  the  House  to  rest  assured 
that  they  would  sacrifice  their  lives  and  fortunes  for 
his  majesty's  honour  and  the  peace  of  the  country. 

"His  majesty  said.  By  God!  the  Parliament  and 
they  too  behoved  to  clear  his  honour."^ 

Then,  in  another  irritable  outburst,  "  his  majesty 
said  that  if  it  had  not  been  published  at  first,  but 
they  had  come  and  demanded  justice,  then  he  should 
have  accorded  to  a  private  way.  But,  as  my  lord 
duke  had  said,  rather  or  it  be  not  tried,  he  should 
wish — if  there  were  a  private  way  of  hell,  he  said — 
with  reverence  he  spoke  it  —  let  it  be  used.  But 
if  they  would  sliow  him  that  the  private  way  was 
freer  of  scandal  than  the  public,  he  would  then  be  of 
their  mind."  ^ 

On  another  point  there  was  a  difference  of  opiuion. 
It  was  moved  that  the  fugitives  should  be  requested 
to  return  to  their  places  in  Parliament,  "since  the 
House  had  seen  that  they  had  very  good  reason  to 
absent  themselves  for  a  time  for  avoiding  of  tumult." 

"  His  majesty  answered  that  he  wished  they  were 
here,  and  he  hoped  they  would  return ;  but  he  would 
never  assent  that  the  House  should  make  any  such 

1  BalfoiU''s  Annals,  iii.  108.  -  Ibid.,  112.  '  Ibid.,  115. 


THE    INCIDENT,    164I.  149 

order,  and  that  for  divers  reasons  best  known  to  him- 
self, which  he  should  be  loath  to  express  in  public." 
On  both  points  the  king  was  overruled. 

Hence  the  resolution  carried  was  that  the  inquiry 
be  made  by  a  committee. 

From  the  brief  abrupt  notes  that  have  come  down 
to  us,  one  cannot  decide  whether  the  Estates  had  good 
reason  against  an  open  inquiry  at  the  beginning,  nor 
can  we  see  exactly  to  Avhat  point  the  evidence  taken 
by  their  committee  tended.^ 

We  trace  the  committee's  inquiries,  however,  to  one 
distinct  point,  where  they  stopped  and  put  a  powerful 
pressure  on  the  king.  Through  all-becoming  terms  of 
reverence  and  loyalty  for  his  majesty,  in  which  the 
Covenanting  politicians  might  have  become  perfect  by 
practice,  what  they  virtually  say  is — You  must  show 
us  that  last  letter  you  had  from  Montrose,  or  abide 
the  consec[uences  of  refusal.  The  letter  was  produced. 
There  was  a  passage  in  this  letter  to  the  effect  "  that 
he  would  particularly  acquaint  his  majesty  with  a 
business  which  not  only  did  concern  his  honour  in  a 
high  degree,  but  the  standing  and  falling  of  his  crown 
likewise."  ^  The  committee  required  that  Montrose 
himself  should  explain  these  words.  He  referred  to 
some  previous  explanation  which  has  not  been  seen, 
and  he  "  further  declared  that  thereby  he  neither  did 
intend,  neither  could  or  would  he  wrong  any  particular 

1  See  notes  of  the  "Depositions;"  Balfour,  ii.  121  et  seq.  They  are 
mere  memoranda.  Baillie  gives  an  account  of  the  examination  still 
more  indistinct,  as  he  could  only  give  it  from  rumour.  He  begins 
by  saying:  "At  once  there  broke  out  ane  noise  of  one  of  the  most 
wicked  plots  that  has  been  heard  of,  that  put  us  all  for  some  days 
in  a  mighty  fear." — Letters,  i    .391. 

=  Balfour's  Annals,  iii.  132. 


I50  CHARLES    I. 

person    quhatsomever."     "  This    being  read,"  as  the 
Lord  Lyou  informs  us,  "  under  Montrose's  hand  to  the 
House,  it  did  not  give  them  satisfaction."    Nor,  indeed, 
did  anything  else  in  this  inquiry ;  for  Avhen  they  had 
got  distinct  testimony  "  anent  the  apprehending  the 
Marquis  and  Argyle,  and  sending  them  to  the  king's 
ship  or  else  stabbing  them,"  yet  all  becomes  clouded 
with  doubts  and  contradictions,  and  it  is  too  late  now  to 
attempt  to  clear  up  what  was  uncertain  to  the  commit- 
tee.^    If  we  could  content  ourselves  with  Clarendon's 
account,  it  would  enlighten  us  with  a  startling  and  ter- 
rible clearness:  "From  the  time  that  Argyle  declared 
himself    against   the    king,    wliich    was   immediately 
after  the    first  pacification,   Montrose   appeared  with 
less  vigour  for  the  Covenant ;  and  had,  by  underhand 
and  secret  insinuations,  made  proffer  of  his  services  to 
the  king.    But  now,  after  his  majesty's  arrival  in  Scot- 
land, by  the  introduction  of  Mr  William  Murray  of  the 
bedchamber,  he  came  privately  to  the  king,  and  in- 
formed him  of  many  particulars  from  the  beginning  of 
the  rebellion,  and  that  the  Marquis  of  Hamilton  was 
no   less   faulty  and   false   towards  his   majesty  than 
Argyle ;  and  offered  to  make  proof  of  all  in  the  Parlia- 
ment, but  rather  desired  to  kill  them  both,  which  he 
frankly  undertook  to  do.     But  the  king,  abhorring  that 
expedient,  though  for  his  own  security,  advised  that 
the  proofs  might  be  prepared  for  the  Parliament."^ 
It  has  l)een  souo-ht  to  discredit  this  statement  of 


^b 


^  Balfonr's  Annals,  iii.  130  etseq. 

'  Edition  1826,  ii.  17.  Ed.  1843,  119.  Clarendon  himself  wrote  some 
things  which  the  politic  decorum  of  the  Clarendon  Press  would  not 
permit  it  to  print.  The  words  "to  kill  them  both"  are  among  the 
suppressed  passages  restored  in  the  edition  of  1826.  The  words  super- 
seding these  in  the  old  edition  were,  "  to  have  them  botli  made  away." 


THE    INCIDENT,    1641.  151 

Clarendon's  by  a  plea  of  alibi,  since  Montrose  was 
under  restraint  during  the  king's  visit  to  Scotland ; 
but  when  great  people  are  involved  in  deep  plots, 
such  and  much  greater  obstacles  have  to  be  overcome. 
That  Clarendon  did  not  tell  the  story  casually  or 
negligently  is  clear  from  the  context,  which  shows 
that  it  was  a  pretext  for  a  measure  of  precaution  in 
England.  There  was  a  committee  from  the  English 
Houses  in  attendance  on  the  king  in  Scotland,  who 
sent  "  a  dark  and  perplexed  account "  of  the  Incident 
to  their  friends  in  England.  Next  morniuo-  "  Mr 
Hyde  " — that  is,  the  historian  himself — "  walking  in 
Westminster  Hall  with  the  Earl  of  Holland  and  the 
Earl  of  Essex,  both  the  earls  seemed  wonderfully  con- 
cerned at  it,  and  to  believe  that  other  men  were  in 
danger  of  the  like  assaults."  Hyde  made  light  of  the 
matter,  so  far  as  they  in  England  were  concerned ;  but 
on  the  letter  from  the  commissioners  being  read  to  the 
Commons,  they  passed  a  resolution  to  apply  to  Lord 
Essex,  as  commander  of  the  forces  south  of  the  Trent, 
for  a  guard  to  protect  the  members  of  both  Houses.^ 
One  more  item  of  intelligence,  before  passing  from  this 
mystery,  is  the  statement  of  Lanark,  one  of  the  three 
fugitives.  Colonel  Hume  came  to  him,  and  said  "  he 
was  informed  there  was  a  plot  that  same  night  to  cut 
the  throats  both  of  Argyle,  my  brother,  and  myself. 
The  manner  of  the  doing  of  it  was  discovered  to  him 
by  one  Captain  Stewart,  who  should  have  been  an 
actor  in  it,  and  should  have  been  done  in  the  king's 
withdrawing  -  chamber,  where  we  three  should  have 
been  called  in,  as  to  speak  with  his  majesty  about  some 
Parliament  business  ;  and  that  immediately  two  lords 

1  Clarendon,  edition  1826,  ii.  17. 


152  CHARLES    I. 

should  have  entered  at  a  door  which  answers  from  the 
garden  with  some  two  hundred  or  three  hundred  men, 
where  they  should  either  have  killed  us  or  carried  us 
aboard  a  ship  of  his  majesty's  which  then  lay  in  the 
road."^  With  these  imperfect  lights  resting  on  it, 
the  Incident  must  be  left  behind.  It  might  not  have 
demanded  the  interest  it  has  obtained  but  for  its 
unfortunate  resemblance  to  other  events  peculiar  as 
features  in  British  history  to  that  reign — such  as  the 
call  for  the  attendance  of  the  fourteen  Scottish  states- 
men which  they  were  afraid  to  obey,  the  attempt  on 
Hull,  the  panic  of  the  city  of  London  from  the  army 
plot,  and  the  attempt  to  seize  the  five  members.^  In 
all  of  these  the  perplexity  of  the  historian  who  meddles 
with  their  perilous  confusions  is  a  faint  reflection  of 
that  gloom  and  mystery,  attended  by  solid  terror,  fall- 
ing on  those  who  stood  near  to  the  influence  of  such 
events.  For  whatever  may  have  been  the  amount  of  the 
real  danger,  it  is  certain  that  a  heavy  cloud  of  terror, 
fed  by  many  rumours,  hung  over  Edinburgh  while  the 
Estates  were  dealing  with  the  Incident.  The  Parlia- 
ment was  to  be  invaded — the  castle  to  be  regarri- 
soned — obnoxious  members  of  the  Parliament  and  the 
Assemblies  tried  by  military  tribunals — Borderers  and 
Highlanders  were  to  be  brought  into  the  city,  and 
at  any  hour  it  might  be  at  the  mercy  of  the  ten 
thousand  Irish  placed  under  Tyrone. 

But  the  concluding  scenes  of  the  inquiry  into  the 

'  Hardwicke's  State  Papers,  ii.  301. 

-  Perliap.s  by  united  industry  and  genius  a  "  monogram  "  on  the  Inci- 
dent might  be  written,  like  Mr  Forster's  book  on  tlie  five  members.  It 
gives  two  volumes  octavo  to  two  days'  work  ;  but  the  track  of  inquiry 
is  followed  with  so  much  skill  and  picturesque  minuteness  as  to  create  a 
wonderful  interest. 


THE    IRISH    REBELLION,    1641.  153 

Incident  were  overshadowed  by  another  and  far  more 
awful  mystery.  Scotland  was  that  division  of  the 
empire  which  it  least  concerned ;  yet  it  comes  up  at 
this  point,  because  the  king,  whose  name  was  com- 
promised in  it,  heard  of  it  while  sojourning  in  Scot- 
land, and  addressed  the  Scots  Estates  about  it  before 
he  met  the  Parliament  of  England.  His  words  were 
thus  noted  down  : — 

"His  majesty  said  that  he  was  to  begin  at  this  time 
with  a  business  of  great  importance,  and  whether  it  was 
of  more  or  less  importance  as  yet  he  could  not  tell, — 
only,  two  or  three  good  and  faithful  subjects  had  writ- 
ten to  him.  Only  amongst  others  he  took  out  a  letter 
from  Lord  Chichester,  which  he  commanded  the  clerk 
to  read  to  the  House,  showing  the  Irish  had  leapen  out 
in  Ireland  in  open  rebellion,  and  that  many  of  the 
Papists  there  had  joined  to  them,  taken  some  forts,  as 
that  of  Dungannon,  seized  one  magazine  of  his,  and 
taken  the  Lord  ShefSeld  prisoner.  He  admitted  that 
he  thought  good  to  advertise  the  House  of  this,  that  if 
it  proved  but  a  small  revolt,  then  he  hoped  there  was 
little  need  of  any  supply  from  this  ;  but  if  it  proved  a 
great  one,  he  did  put  no  question  but  they  that  were 
his  own  would  have  an  especial  care  he  were  not 
wronged — for  it  was  best  principiis  obstare."  At  his 
desire  the  Estates  selected  a  committee  of  nine — three 
from  each — "  to  advise  the  best  course  for  the  present 
to  be  taken  in  this  business."  ^ 

Such  were  the  first  words  in  which  the  king  publicly 
dealt  with  that  terrible  event,  the  outbreak  and  mas- 
sacre in  Ireland.  In  the  matter  of  mere  bloodshed, 
this  tragedy  has  left  a  broader  stain  on  history  than  the 
1  Balfour's  Annals,  iii.  120. 


154  CHARLES    I. 

Sicilian  Vespers  or  even  the  night  of  St  Bartholomew. 
It  had  more  likeness  to  what  we  hear  of  the  destroying 
march  of  Attila  the  Hun,  than  to  anything  in  modern 
European  history.  Though  the  king  was  by  some 
believed  to  be  guilty  in  the  matter,  it  was  not  for  the 
actual  outbreak  and  the  murders,  but  for  separate  acts 
which  gave  opportunity  for  them.  Indeed,  the  very 
horrors  of  the  scene,  and  the  utter  disbelief  that  the 
king  could  have  authorised  them,  has  disturbed  and 
perplexed  the  secondary  inquiry,  how  far  he  was 
guilty  of  acts  which  gave  occasion  to  the  outbreak. 
To  understand  the  gravity  of  any  such  imputatioL, 
we  must  look  at  an  unpleasant  peculiarity  in  the  so- 
cial condition  of  the  times.  The  European  system 
of  diplomacy,  and  the  law  of  nations,  including  the 
courtesies  of  peace  and  war,  are  a  relic  of  the  Eomau 
empire  which  it  has  ever  been  difficult  to  carry  beyond 
the  bounds  of  civilised  Europe.  It  was  a  rule  by 
which  men  abstained  from  striking  when  they  could 
strike,  seeing  there  was  no  superior  power  to  control 
them  ;  and  Oriental  communities  could  not  understand 
how  this  could  be.  In  this  part  of  Europe  the  Celt 
was  excluded  from  these  privileges  of  the  law  of  peace 
and  war.  Like  the  Roman  slave,  justice  and  mercy 
might  in  some  measure  be  claimed  for  him  by  some 
other  person  who  had  an  interest  in  him,  but  he  could 
claim  nothing  for  himself  The  regular  clans,  whose 
chiefs  gave  substantial  security  for  the  good  behaviour 
of  their  followers,  became  thus  entitled,  while  that 
good  behaviour  lasted,  to  some  consideration.  But  the 
"  broken  Hielandmen  "  might  be  hunted  and  extirpated 
like  wolves.  The  Irish  Celtic  population  was  too  large 
to  be  so  systematically  dealt  with  by  such  vicarious 


THE    IRISH    REBELLION,    1641.  155 

responsibility ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Saxon 
population  was  so  small  that  it  was  generally  glad  to 
protect  itself  within  the  Pale.  It  was  not  so  much 
that  the  native  races  were  denounced  by  law,  as  that 
there  was  no  law  for  them.  We  learn  their  treatment 
in  that  statute  which  warns  Englishmen  to  shave  the 
upper  lip,  otherwise  they  run  the  risk  of  being  treated 
like  the  Irish. 

If  any  vindication  of  such  a  policy  were  worth  ten- 
dering, it  was  that  the  Irish  themselves  were  cruel 
and  treacherous,  and  neither  severity  nor  kindness 
would  bring  them  to  respect  the  courtesies  of  nations. 
Whether  it  were  the  converse  of  this,  and  that  the 
treatment  of  the  Irish  by  their  invaders  made  them 
what  they  were,  or  that  both  depravities  aggravated 
each  other  by  action  and  counter-action,  are  questions 
which  it  is  fortunately  unnecessary  here  to  solve.  It 
is,  however,  a  scandal  to  civilisation,  that  the  treach- 
eries and  cruelties  caused  by  such  conditions  have  in 
various  parts  of  the  world  been  more  numerous  and 
more  conspicuously  committed  by  the  civilised  man 
than  by  the  savage.  There  is  a  simple  reason  for  this — 
the  savage  is  not  trusted  by  his  neighbours  of  any 
kind.  The  civilised  man  keeps  faith  with  his  fellow, 
and  becomes  trusted.  Hence  character  gives  him  op- 
portunities which  the  other  has  not.  A  higher  civil, 
isation  has  now  been  reached — that  which  keeps  faith 
even  with  the  treacherous.  We  had  not  learned  this 
in  the  days  of  Clive,  and  it  has  taken  all  the  powerful 
schooling  of  our  acquisition  and  retention  of  our  great 
Indian  empire  to  teach  it  to  our  statesmen.  Sir 
James  Turner,  a  soldier  of  fortune,  well  seasoned  to 
hardness  and  ferocity  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  yet 


IS6  CHARLES    I. 

carried  away  from  that  ordeal  enough  of  human  feel- 
ing to  shudder  at  the  work  in  which  he  was  expected 
to  bear  a  hand  in  Ireland.  "  The  wild  Irish,"  he  says, 
"  did  not  only  massacre  all  whom  they  could  over- 
master, but  burnt  towns,  villages,  castles,  churches, 
and  all  habitable  houses,  endeavouring  to  reduce,  as 
far  as  their  power  could  reach,  all  to  a  confused  chaos." 
His  first  experience  on  the  other  side  was  in  a  skir- 
mish with  some  rebels  in  the  "woods  of  Kilwarninsf," 
"  who,  after  a  short  dispute,  fled ;  those  who  were 
taken  got  but  bad  quarter,  being  all  shot  dead."  The 
next  feat  was  the  siege  of  Newry,  rendered  "  with  a 
very  ill-made  accord,  or  a  very  ill-kept  one ;  for  the 
next  day  most  of  them,  with  many  merchants  and 
tradesmen  of  the  town  who  had  not  been  in  the  castle, 
were  carried  to  the  bridge  and  butchered  to  death 
— some  by  shooting,  some  by  hanging,  and  some  by 
drowning — without  any  legal  process."  And  on  such 
scenes  the  Eitter  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War  soliloquises : 
"  This  was  too  much  used  by  both  English  and  Scots 
all  along  in  that  war — a  thing  inhuman  and  disavow- 
able,  for  the  cruelty  of  one  enemy  cannot  excuse  the 
inhumanity  of  another.  And  herein  also  their  revenge 
overmastered  their  discretion,  which  should  have 
taught  them  to  save  the  lives  of  those  they  took,  that 
the  rebels  might  do  the  like  to  their  prisoners."  ^ 
Taking  the  simple  fact,  that  the  Celts,  both  of  Scotland 
and  England,  were  excluded  from  the  courtesies  of 
civilised  warfare,  and  that  as  they  did  not  receive,  so 
they  did  not  grant  quarter,  their  occasional  appear- 
ances in  the  contests  of  the  time  were  attended  by 
sinister  suspicions. 

■■  Sir  James  Turner's  Memoirs,  20. 


THE    IRISH    REBELLION,    1641.  157 

Employing  the  Celtic  races  in  civilised  warfare  was 
employing  a  force  not  expected  to  concede  the  cour- 
tesies of  war  to  the  enemy  against  whom  they  were 
let  loose.  Their  hostility  was  not  that  of  pugnacious 
enemies  met  in  battle— it  was,  the  hatred  of  one  race 
to  another  ;  and  the  object  was  not  victory  but  ex- 
tirpation. To  them  the  infant  and  the  aged  mother 
were  objects  of  hate  and  hostility  as  much  as  the 
armed  soldier.  Hence  it  was  a  reproach  to  any 
civilised  ruler  to  have  used  such  a  force — a  reproach 
like  that  of  employing  Indians  in  the  American  war, 
the  object  of  one  of  Chatham's  famous  philippics.  In 
the  present  struggle  both  sides  came  under  this  re- 
proach. We  have  seen  that  the  Highlanders  taken  by 
Arg}de  to  Dunse  Law  were  an  object  of  much  unea- 
siness ;  but  they  were  only  twelve  hundred  or  so  in 
an  army  exceeding  twenty  thousand,  and  hence  might 
be  kept  in  order.  Many  indignant  reproaches  were 
heaped  on  him  when  he  swej)t  the  country  with  his 
army  of  four  thousand ;  but  it  was  a  palliation  of  the 
act,  that  only  to  a  small  extent  did  his  devastations 
touch  the  Lowland  districts. 

On  the  other  hand.  King  Charles  had  assembled  an 
army  of  nine  thousand  of  the  wild  Irish  for  the  in- 
vasion of  Scotland.  They  were  odious,  of  course,  as 
Papists  ;  but  they  were  dreaded  for  reasons  which 
could  not  have  extended  to  German  or  French  troops 
of  the  same  religion.  When  there  was  no  longer  an 
excuse  for  its  retention,  the  king  had  shown  great 
reluctance  to  disband  this  army.  There  were  projects 
for  giving  the  use  of  it  to  the  King  of  Spain,  and 
these  were  treated  as  mere  devices  for  keeping  an 
armed  force  of  Irish  Papists  in  existence  for  use  when 


158  CHARLES    I. 

desired; — why  otherwise  should  the  King  of  Britain,  to 
help  the  power  of  Spain,  persist  in  an  act  that  must 
be  olfensive  to  his  own  people  1  At  the  time  of  the 
Incident  this  force  was  no  doubt  disbanded ;  but  their 
arms  were  all  stored  ready  for  use  in  Dublin  Castle, 
and  it  was  believed  in  Scotland  that  they  might  be 
made  available  on  the  shortest  notice. 

It  were  well  if  this  were  all,  but  it  brings  us  to  the 
entrance  of  a  darker  mystery.  On  the  4th  of  No- 
vember 1641,  Sir  Phelim  O'Neil,  the  leader  of  the 
rebellion,  issued  a  proclamation,  announcing  :  "To  all 
Catholics  of  the  Roman  party,  both  English  and  Irish, 
within  the  kingdom  of  Ireland,  we  wish  all  happiness, 
freedom  of  conscience,  and  victory  over  the  English 
heretics,  that  have  so  long  time  tyrannised  over  our 
bodies,  and  usurped  by  extortion  our  estates."  In 
this  proclamation  he  said  he  acted  under  a  commission 
and  instructions  from  the  king,  referring  to  "  divers 
great  and  heinous  affronts  that  the  English  Protest- 
ants, especially  the  Parliament  there,  have  published 
against  his  royal  person  and  prerogative,  and  also 
aorainst  our  Catholic  friends  within  the  kingdom  of 
England." 

What  professes  to  be  the  commission  has  been 
preserved.  It  begins  :  "  Charles,"  &c.,  "  to  all  Catholic 
subjects  within  our  kingdom  of  Ireland,  greeting. 
Know  ye  that  we,  for  the  safeguard  and  preservation 
of  our  person,  have  been  forced  to  make  our  abode 
and  residence  in  our  kingdom  of  Scotland  for  a  long 
season."  Then  referring  to  the  outrages  by  the  Eng- 
lish Parliament,  it  gives  authority  "  to  use  all  politic 
ways  and  means  possibly  to  possess  yourselves,  for 
our  use  and  safety,  of  all  forts,   castles,   and  places 


THE    IRISH    REBELLION,    1641.  159 

of  strength  and  defence  within  the  said  kingdom, 
except  the  places,  persons,  and  estates  of  our  loyal 
and  loving  subjects  the  Scots;  and  also  to  arrest  and 
seize  the  goods,  estates,  and  persons  of  all  the  English 
Protestants  within  the  said  kingdom  to  our  use."^ 

By  some  writers  this  commission  has  been  cast 
aside  as  a  forgery  so  obviously  inconsistent  with  the 
surrounding  conditions  that  its  rejection  requires  no 
support  from  criticism.  But  this  is  a  matter  open  to 
difference  of  opinion  ;  and  any  one  conversant  with 
the  documents  of  the  time  could  point  to  papers  of 
undoubted  authenticity,  issued  by  the  king,  of  a  nature 
more  inconsistent  and  surprising  than  this  commission.^ 
Clarendon  and  others  say  that  the  great  seal  of  Eng- 
land, taken  from  another  writ,  was  appended  to  this.^ 

1  Rushworth,  iv.  40L 

^  "  The  commission  itself,  for  the  grounds  and  language  of  it,  is  very 
suitable  to  other  despatches  and  writings  under  his  majesty's  name, 
expressing  much  bitterness  against  the  Parliament,  and  jealousy  of  the 
diminution  of  his  prerogative,  which  was  always  his  great  fear." — 
Mystery  of  Iniquity,  38. 

^  Clarendon  says  :  "  They  not  only  declared,  and  with  great  skill  and 
industry  published  throughout  the  kingdom,  that  they  took  arms  for  the 
king  and  the  defence  of  his  royal  prerogative  against  the  Puritanical 
Parliament  of  England,  which  they  said  invaded  it  in  many  parts,  and 
that  what  they  did  was  by  his  majesty's  approbation  and  authority.  And 
to  gain  credit  to  that  fiction  they  produced  and  showed  a  commission  to 
which  they  had  fastened  an  impression  of  the  great  seal,  which  they 
had  taken  off  some  grant  or  patent  which  had  regularly  and  legally 
passed  the  seal ;  and  so  it  was  not  difficult  to  persuade  weak  and  inex- 
perienced persons  to  believe  that  it  was  a  true  seal  and  real  commission 
from  the  king." — Rushworth,  iv.  403.  The  author  of  the  History  of  the 
Irish  Rebellion  (1680)  says:  "One  Plunket  having  taken  an  old  broad 
seal  from  an  obsolete  patent  of  Earnham  Abbey,  and  fixed  it  to  a  forged 
commission,  it  served  to  seduce  tlie  vulgar  into  an  opinion  of  their 
loyalty." — P.  29,  30.  When  it  reached  Hume's  day  the  shape  of  the  story 
was  :  "  Sir  Phelim  O'Neil  having  found  a  royal  patent  in  Lord  Caulfield'a 
house,  whom  he  had  murdered,  tore  off  the  seal,  and  affixed  it  to  a  com- 
mission which  he  had  forged  for  himself" — Chap.  Iv.  This  is  founded  on 
an  account  of  what  Ker,  Dean  of  Ardagh,  professed  in  the  year  1681,  to 


l6o  CHARLES    I. 

But  O'Ncil's  proclamation  calls  it  a  "  commission 
under  the  great  seal  of  Scotland."  The  passage 
already  cited  from  it  refers  to  the  king  as  abiding 
in  Scotland  when  it  was  issued  :  and  the  concluding 

o 

words  of  the  commission  are, — "  Witness  ourself  at 
Edinburgh,  the  first  of  October,  in  the  seventeenth 
year  of  our  reign."  It  has  been  said  of  the  copy  of 
the  document  as  given  by  Rushworth,  that  in  describ- 
ing the  assumption  of  power  by  the  English  Parlia- 
ment, it  anticipates  political  conditions  which  did  not 
exist  until  after  its  date ;  but  in  the  king's  way  of 
stating  the  affronts  put  on  him,  he,  on  other  occasions 
as  on  this,  exaggerated  what  had  been  done,  so  as  to 
give  the  picture  a  greater  likeness  of  what  was  to  be 
done.-^ 

When  we  find  the  document  thus  treated  as  an 
evident  fabrication,  there  arises  an  obvious  question 
• — If  there  was  a  forgery  for  the  purpose  of  creating 
a  temporary  delusion,  why  was  it  not  in  the  name 
of  the  English  Government,  and  under  the  great  seal 
of  England  ?  As  a  warrant  of  sovereignty,  the  great 
seal  of  Scotland  was  nothing  in  Ireland.      If  it  was 

give  of  the  trial  of  O'Neil  :  "  The  said  Sir  Phelim  confessed  that  when 
he  surprised  the  Castle  of  Charlemont  and  the  Lord  Caulfield,  that  he 
ordered  the  said  Mr  Harrison  and  another  gentleman,  whose  name  I  do 
not  now  remember,  to  cut  off  the  king's  broad  seal  from  a  patent  of  the 
said  Lords  they  then  found  in  Charlemont,  and  to  affix  it  to  a  commis- 
sion, which  he,  tlie  said  Sir  Plielim,  had  ordered  to  be  drawn  up." — 
Nalson,  ii.  529.  The  said  Sir  Phelim  was  fortunate  in  getting  his  order 
executed  by  one  intimately  acquainted  with  the  condition  of  official 
business  at  that  time  botli  in  England  and  in  Scotland.  Isaac  d'Israeli 
contents  himself  with  saying  in  a  note  :  "  Sir  Phelim  O'Neale,  the  head 
of  these  insurgents,  it  was  afterwards  discovered,  had  torn  oif  the  great 
seal,  and  affixed  it  to  a  pretended  commission." — Commentaries,  iv.  396. 
'  See  this  articulately  shown  in  Brodie's  British  Empire,  ii.  380, 
edit.  1866. 


THE    IRISH    REBELLION,    1641.  161 

that  only  an  impression  of  tlie  great  seal  of  Scotland 
was  available,  and  that  was  considered  better  than  no 
seal,  the  accident,  when  connected  with  what  has  yet 
to  be  told,  is  one  of  the  strangest  that  ever  happened. 
The  anthor  of  a  pamphlet  which  was  jjublished  two 
years  later,  and  obtained  great  notoriety,  gave  cur- 
rency to  the  following  rumour  : — 

"  It  is  said  that  this  commission  was  signed  with 
the  broad  seal  of  that  kingdom,  being  not  then  settled 
in  the  hands  of  any  officer  who  could  be  answerable 
for  the  use  of  it,  but  during  the  vacancy  of  the  Chan- 
cellor's place  intrusted  Avith  the  Marquess  Hamilton, 
and  by  him  with  one  Mr  John  Hamilton,  the  scribe 
of  the  cross-petitioners  in  Scotland,  and  some  time 
under  the  care  of  Master  Endymion  Porter,  a  very  fit 
opportunity  for  such  a  clandestine  transaction."  ^ 

By  a  coincidence  which,  if  there  was  no  foul  play, 
must  be  called  unfortunate,  it  is  known  that  on  the 
1st  of  October,  which  is  the  date  on  the  commission, 
the  great  seal  of  Scotland  happened  to  be  in  a  state 
of  transition.  It  was  doubtful  who  Avas  responsible  on 
that  day  for  its  custody  and  its  use — it  might  be  said 
to  be  amissing.  Archbishop  Spottiswood  continued 
to  be  nominally  Chancellor — at  least  no  one  had  been 
appointed  to  succeed  him,  although  he  was  excom- 
municated and  a  fugitive.  The  great  seal  had  been 
committed  to  the  charge  of  Hamilton.  On  the  30th 
day  of  September  Loudon  was  made  Chancellor  by  a 
joint  Act  of  the  king  and  the  Estates  under  the  new 
arrangement.     Though  thus  appointed  to  his  office  on 

1  The  Mystery  of  Iniquity  yet  working  in  tlie  Kingdoms  of  England, 
Scotland,  and  Ireland,  for  the  Destruction  of  Religion  truly  Protestant, 
discovered,  1643— attributed  to  Edward  Bowles— p.  37,  38. 

VOL.  VII.  L 


l62  CHARLES    I. 

the  30th  of  September,  the  great  seal  was  not  put 
into  his  custody  until  the  2d  of  October.  On  that 
day,  under  an  order  from  the  Estates,  he,  "  for  obedi- 
ence of  the  said  command,  produced  the  said  great 
seal  in  presence  of  the  king  and  Parliament."  The 
order  of  the  Estates  shows  at  the  same  time  that  the 
author  of  the  '  JM3'stery  of  Iniquity '  was  acquainted 
with  the  minor  arrangements  about  the  custody  of 
the  seal.  He  mentions  "  one  Mr  John  Hamilton  ;  " 
and  the  Act  for  the  production  of  the  seal  sets  forth 
that  it  had  been  used  by  the  Marquess  of  Hamilton, 
"  and  his  underkeeper,  Mr  John  Hamilton,  advocate."  ■'■ 
The  two  c[uestions — first,  whether  the  rebels  had  a 
commission  under  the  great  seal  of  Scotland ;  and  next, 
if  they  had,  whether  the  king  sent  it  to  them — might 
perhaps  reward  the  labours  of  one  of  these  archseolo- 
gists  whose  taste  and  qualifications  turn  in  the  direc- 
tion of  close  minute  inquiry.     The  questions,  after  all, 


b 


'  Act.  Pari.,  V.  366,  367.  When  the  author  of  the  '  Mystery  of  Iniquity ' 
spoke  of  Endymion  Porter  as  a  man  likely  to  play  tricks  with  a  great 
seal,  his  suspicions  have  something  of  a  prophetic  character,  unless  he 
happened  to  be  acquainted  with  a  secret  transaction  of  the  same  year  aa 
the  publication  of  his  jiamphlet  (1643),  which  was  not  revealed  until 
the  Restoration.  By  that  transaction  there  was  to  be  a  full  toleration  of 
the  Roman  Catholics,  a  measure  that  in  later  times,  and  freely  granted, 
would  have  been  entitled  to  all  applause.  The  price,  however,  was  to 
be — assistance  against  the  Parliament  from  an  Irish  army  of  twenty 
thousand  men.  The  negotiator  was  the  Lord  Glamorgan.  When  apply- 
ing through  Clarendon  for  Court  favour  at  the  Restoration,  he  gave  this 
account  of  his  warrant  for  the  transaction  ; — 

"  My  instructions  for  this  purpose,  and  my  power  to  treat  and  con- 
clude thereupon,  were  signed  by  the  king  under  his  pocket-signet,  with 
blanks  for  me  to  put  in  the  name  of  Pope  or  prince,  to  the  end  the  king 
might  have  a  starting-hole  to  deny  the  having  given  me  such  commis- 
sions, if  excepted  against  by  his  own  subjects  ;  leaving  me,  aa  it  were, 
at  stake,  who  for  his  majesty's  sake  was  willing  to  undergo  it,  trusting 
to  his  word  alone. 

"  In  like  manner  did  I  not  stick  upon  having  this  commission  enrolled 


THE    IRISH    REBELLION,    1641.  163 

are  not  of  wide  importance.  Tlie  king  is  not  charged 
with  the  carnage  that  followed ;  and  if  it  be  that  he 
secretly  asked  the  Irish  Papists  to  assist  him  against 
his  Puritan  and  Presbyterian  assailants,  the  imputa- 
tion would  make  no  serious  addition  to  the  weight  of 
perverseness  that  depresses  his  political  reputation. 
The  elements  of  some  horrible  crisis  were  all  prepared 
in  Ireland — the  political  work  of  centuries  had  accu- 
mulated them,  and  an  accident  would  give  them  life. 
But  to  have  been  the  author  of  that  accident — to  have 
been  even  accused  of  it,  if  he  were  innocent — must 
have  been  a  calamity  sufficient  to  add  many  drops  of 
bitterness  to  the  heart  of  the  most  unfortun'ate  of  men. 
He  was  not  a  man  of  blood.  His  conscience  was 
quick  and  active  —  too  active,  indeed,  in  its  own 
peculiar  direction,  for  the  peace  either  of  himself  or 
others.  Domestic  affection  was  strong  in  him.  Even 
that  form  of  it  which  created  so  much  wrath  against 

or  assented  to  by  his  Council,  nor  indeed  the  seal  to  he  put  unto  it  in 
an  ordinary  manner,  but  as  Mr  Endymion  Porter  and  I  could  perform 
it,  with  rollers  and  no  screw-press." — Letter  from  Glamorgan,  after  he 
had  become  Marquess  of  Worcester,  to  Clarendon,  June  11, 1660  ;  Clar- 
endon's State  Papers,  ii.  201-203. 

The  object  of  the  letter  is  to  acquaint  Clarendon  "  with  one  chief  key 
where^dth  to  open  the  secret  passages  "  between  the  late  king  and  the 
marquess.  It  will  be  observed  that  he,  a  performer  in  the  curious  me- 
chanical feat  described  by  him,  was  the  author  of  that  '  Century  of 
Inventions '  who  has  often  been  credited  with  the  invention  of  the  steam- 
engine.  If  it  is  a  fair  conclusion  that  such  a  commission  under  the  great 
seal  of  Scotland  was  sent  to  Ireland,  it  is  easy  to  find  who  carried  it  over. 
The  author  of  the  '  Mystery  of  Iniquity '  says  the  Lord  Dillon  of  Coste- 
lough  went  to  Scotland  with  the  queen's  letters  to  the  king.  In  the  month 
of  October  he  "went  out  of  Scotland  from  his  majesty  into  Ireland, 
bringing  his  majesty's  letters,  which  he  obtained  by  mediation  of  the 
queen,  to  be  presently  sworn  a  Privy  Councillor  of  Ireland"  (Rushworth, 
V.  349).  He  lay  under  heavy  suspicion  of  connivance  in  the  rebellion; 
and  venturing  into  England,  he  was  imprisoned  by  the  Parliament  on 
the  charge,  which,  however,  was  never  proved,  that  he  had  been  sent  as 
an  agent  "  by  the  rebels  of  Ireland  to  the  king"  (Clarendon,  353). 


164  CHARLES    I. 

him — his  devotion  and  entire  loyalty  towards  his  un- 
popular wife — told  of  a  nature  to  which  acts  of  cruelty 
and  carnage  must  have  been  repugnant. 

If  there  was  some  sunshine  when  the  Scots  Parlia- 
ment opened  in  May,  there  was  gloom  enough  in 
November  when  it  closed.  The  business  at  the  end 
was  hurried  over  to  let  the  kino-  return  to  his  English 
Parliament,  with  the  new  and  terrible  business  that 
had  fallen  on  the  hands  of  both.  Before  he  left  Scot- 
land he  conferred  the  distinctions  already  referred  to. 
The  Estates  had  determined  to  assemble  once  at  least 
in  every  period  of  three  years,  and  never  to  dissolve 
without  fixing  the  period  for  reassembling.  At  their 
last  meeting,  on  the  7th  of  November,  "  because  this 
present  Parliament  is  this  day,  by  the  assistance  of 
God  Almighty  and  his  majesty's  great  wisdom,  to  he 
brought  to  ane  happy  conclusion,"  the  next  was  ap- 
pointed to  meet  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  the  month  of 
June,  in  the  year  1644. 

The  Scots  Estates  made  an  offer  about  Ireland, 
which  in  words  was  prompt  and  vigorous.  They 
would  immediately  send,  out  of  the  materials  of  the 
fine  army  which  had  just  been  disbanded,  a  force  of 
ten  thousand  men,  with  three  thousand  stand  of  arms. 
In  the  view  of  many  of  the  English  statesmen  of  the 
day  the  offer  was  far  too  good.  Scotland  was,  in  the 
division  of  parties  elsewhere,  so  influential  and  power- 
ful, that  nothing  seemed  too  great  to  be  achieved  by 
her ;  and  with  ten  thousand  well  -  trained  men  in 
Ireland,  Scotland  would  have  more  command  there 
than  England  ever  had — it  would  be  a  direct  trans- 
ference of  the  great  Dependency.  The  project  was 
not  abandoned  for  these  considerations.     It  was  but 


THE    IRISH    REBELLION,    1641.  165 

languidly  supported,  however,  from  England,  and  only 
in  part  fulfilled.  Leslie,  with  Monro  as  his  lieutenant, 
landed  in  all  about  four  thousand  men  at  Carrickfergus. 
Again  the  antithesis  of  the  two  countries  is  repeated 
— Ireland  in  greater  chaos  than  ever,  though  with  an 
unusual  unanimity  in  cruelty  and  destructiveness;  the 
Scots  force  moving  in  the  centre  of  all  in  its  own 
separate  distinctness,  an  army  still  more  orderly  and 
exact  in  drill  than  the  Highlanders  of  fifty  years 
earlier.  One  serious  doubt  disturbed  them, — for  whom 
were  they  fighting  1  Was  it  to  king  or  Parliament 
that  they  were  to  look  for  their  pay  ?  They  sought  a 
solution  of  the  difficulty  in  reliance  on  their  own  com- 
pact action,  and  so  held  the  towns  and  fortified  places 
taken  by  them  as  provisionally  their  own.  One  of 
their  body  describes  them  as  taking  example  from 
their  own  Covenant :  "  The  officers  of  this  our  Scots 
army  in  Ireland,  finding  themselves  ill  paid,  and, 
which  was  worse,  not  knowing  in  the  time  of  the  civil 
Avar  who  should  be  their  paymasters,  and  reflecting 
on  the  successful  issue  of  the  National  Covenant  of 
Scotland,  bethought  themselves  of  making  one  also. 
But  they  were  wise  enough  to  give  it  another  name, 
and  therefore  christened  it  a  '  Mutual  Assurance'; 
whereby  upon  the  matter  they  made  themselves 
independent  of  any,  except  those  who  would  be  their 
actual  and  real  paymasters,  with  whom,  for  anything 
I  know,  they  met  not  the  whole  time  of  the  war."^ 
They  would  take  no  general  orders  but  from  home ; 
and  so  when  Ormond,  according  to  the  same  parti- 
cipator in  their  lot,  "  signified  by  a  trumpet  to  us 
the  cessation  he  had,  by  his  majesty's  appointment, 

1  Turner's  Memoirs,  24. 


l66  CHARLES    I. 

concluded  with  tlie  Irish  for  a  year,  and  required 
Monro  in  the  king's  name  to  observe  it,"  "  he  re- 
fused to  accept  it,  because  he  had  no  order  for  it  from 
his  masters  of  Scotland."^  Leslie,  the  commander, 
found,  as  we  shall  see,  other  work  to  do,  and  he  left 
his  charge  in  the  hands  of  General  Monro.  To  him 
fell  the  chief  command  of  the  English  as  well  as  the 
Scotch  troops  in  Ireland,  and  in  1643  he  was  in 
command  of  an  army  ten  thousand  strong.^ 

The  two  divisions  of  Britain  were  too  much  occu- 
pied— each  about  itself,  and  both  about  each  other — ■ 
to  think  much  of  unhappy  Ireland.  A  committee  from 
the  English  Parliament  had  accompanied  the  king  to 
Scotland,  for  the  avowed  object  of  assisting  him  as 
a  council,  but  the  real  object  of  transacting  their  own 
business  with  their  friends  in  Scotland.  Certain  Scots 
commissioners  at  the  same  time  attended  the  English 
Parliament,  so  that  there  was  an  official  apparatus  for 
close  intercommunication.  A  General  Assembly  con- 
tinued to  meet  annually  in  Scotland  as  a  matter  of 
routine.  Its  business  now  had  little  interest  except 
to  those  immediately  concerned.  The  Assembly  of 
1640  took  up  its  testimony  against  private  associa- 
tions of  Christians  for  religious  or  ecclesiastical  pur- 
jjoses,  a  practice  out  of  the  prevalence  of  which  the 
Assemblies  seemed  to  fear  the  groAvth  of  the  Indepen- 
dent or  Congregational  system.  They  saw  the  growth 
of  this  system  in  England  Avith  much  alarm,  and  lost 
no  opportunity  of  denouncing  it.     The  Presbyterian 

'  Turner's  Memoirs,  29. 

2  For  an  account  of  particulars  of  the  services  of  Monro's  army  in 
Ireland,  and  its  progress  as  far  southward  "  as  Killarney  woods,"  see  a 
paper  in  tlie  'Ulster  Journal  of  Archaeology '  on  the  "  Proceedings  of  the 
Scotch  and  English  Force  in  the  North  of  Ireland  in  1642,"  viii.  77. 


CO-OPERATION    WITH    ENGLAND,    1641-43.        167 

party  in  England  gave  them  a  good  occasion  for 
speaking  to  this  point,  when  in  the  General  Assembly 
of  1641  "a  letter  from  some  ministers  in  England" 
was  presented.  These  ministers  were  groaning  under 
the  yoke  of  Episcopacy,  which  they  now  had  hope 
that  God  of  His  infinite  goodness  would  remove  from 
them.  But  this  hope  was  somewhat  shaded  by  the 
growth  of  sectaries,  who  maintained  that  each  congre- 
gation was  its  own  church  government,  with  right  of 
excommunication  and  all  other  powers  of  the  keys. 
They  modestly  requested  the  judgment  of  the  Scots 
Assembly  on  this  difficulty,  saying :  "  We  do  earnestly 
entreat  the  same  at  your  hands,  and  that  so  much  the 
rather  because  we  sometimes  hear  from  those  of  the 
aforesaid  judgment,  that  some  famous  and  eminent 
brethren  even  among  yourselves  do  sometimes  incline 
unto  an  ap^arobation  of  that  way  of  government." 
The  answer  of  the  Assembly  was  of  course  an  exhorta- 
tion to  stand  fast  by  the  divine  right  of  Presbyterian 
government.  In  acknowledgment  of  this,  the  Scots 
clergy  received  at  their  next  Assembly,  from  their 
brethren  of  England,  the  comforting  assurance  :  "  Our 
prayers  and  endeavours,  according  to  our  measure, 
have  been  and  shall  be  for  the  supplanting  and  rooting 
up  whatsoever  we  find  so  prejudicial  to  the  establish- 
ment of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  and  the  peace  of  our 
sovereign.  And  that  this  declaration  of  ourselves  may 
not  leave  you  unsatisfied,  we  think  it  necessary  farther 
to  express  that  the  desire  of  the  most  godly  and  con- 
siderable part  amongst  us  is,  that  the  Presbyterian 
government,  which  hath  just  and  evident  foundation 
both  in  the  Word  of  God  and  religious  reason,  may 
-be  established  amongst  us;    and  that,  according  to 


1 68  CHARLES    I. 

your  intimatiou,  we  may  agree  to  one  confession  of 
faith,  one  directory  of  public  worship,  one  public  cate- 
chism and  form  of  government — which  things,  if  they 
were  accomplished,  we  should  much  rejoice  in  our 
happy  subjection  to  Christ  our  Head,  and  our  desired 
association  with  you,  our  beloved  brethren."^ 

That  Assembly  meeting  of  1642  was  honoured  by 
a  message  from  the  Parliament  of  England  calling 
attention  to  their  declaration  of  their  case  in  the 
quarrel  with  the  king. 

This  had  gone  rapidly  onward  since  his  return 
from  Scotland.  The  grand  remonstrance,  the  attempt 
to  seize  the  five  members,  the  impeachment  of  the 
bishops,  the  dispute  about  the  militia,  had  followed 
on  each  other ;  and  at  length,  on  the  28th  of  August 
1642,  the  king's  standard  was  raised  at  Nottingham. 
Both  parties  looked  with  eager  longing  at  the  materials 
of  the  fine  army  lately  disbanded  in  Scotland.  Much 
as  the  governing  men  in  Scotland  had  lately  been 
pleased  with  the  docility  of  their  king,  they  were  saga- 
cious enough  to  estimate  it  at  its  true  value.  They 
knew  that  his  heart  was  at  war  with  every  Act  to 
which  he  had  put  his  hand,  and  that  all  would  be 
reversed  when  the  opportunity  came.  Indeed  he  was 
known  to  have  said  as  much  to  those  in  his  confidence, 
l)y  whom  the  secret  was  not  always  completely  kept. 

There  came  appalling  rumours  from  Ireland.  People 
had  supped  full  of  horrors  in  the  carnage  of  the  rebel- 
lion ;  and  the  tale  was  so  horrible  that  some  have 
thought  in  later  times  that  it  was  a  great  popular 
delusion,  and  that  no  more  blood  was  shed  by  the 
Irish  rebels  than  the  necessities  of  war  and  the  mis- 

1  Peterkin's  Records,  294-96,  329. 


CO-OPERATION    WITH    ENGLAND,    1641-43.       169 

mauagement  of  undrilled  combatants  may  reasonably 
account  for.  However  this  may  be,  the  Irish  massacre, 
as  it  stands  in  the  ordinary  histories,  was  then  believed 
in  Scotland,  and  believed  with  some  exaggeration. 
Before  this  awful  evidence  of  their  bloody  spirit  had 
become  known,  there  was  a  rumour  that  nine  thousand 
of  the  Avild  Irish  were  coming  to  sweep  Scotland. 
After  the  terrible  example  had  been  shown,  there  was 
again  a  rumour  of  an  invasion  from  Ireland,  and  it 
was  to  be  on  a  larger  scale.  Glamorgan  had  made 
peace  between  the  King  of  England  and  the  Church 
of  Eome.  The  Papists  were  to  be  encouraged  by  the 
Court,  where  they  had  a  good  friend  in  the  queen.  In 
return  for  the  grace  extended  to  them,  they  were  to 
send  over  to  Scotland  an  army  of  the  men  who  had 
done  the  bloody  work  of  the  Irish  massacre.  Farther, 
the  Scots  were  informed  by  their  good  friends  of  the 
Parliament  of  England,  that  the  Lord  Antrim,  one  of 
the  leaders  in  the  rebellion,  had  a  negotiation  in  hand 
for  gaining  Monro  and  his  army  of  ten  thousand — 
Scotch  and  English — for  the  suppression  of  the  Parlia- 
mentary party  in  England. 

While  the  king's  party  was  playing  a  game  of  this 
kind,  the  English  Parliament  was  day  by  day  ap- 
proaching the  perfection  that  ruled  in  Scotland,  and 
reaping  golden  opinions  from  the  Scots.  On  the  1 0th 
of  August  1643,  the  commission  of  the  Parliament 
of  England  in  complimentary  fashion  addressed  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Church,  claiming  credit  for 
following  the  footsteps  of  Scotland  which  had  gone 
before  :  "To  give  them  an  account  of  their  earnest 
desire  to  see  the  same  work  promoted  and  perfected 
among  ourselves,  which,  though  it  hath  been  opposed 


IJO  CHARLES    I. 

and  retarded  by  the  industrious  malice  of  the  Popish, 
Prelatical,  and  Malignant  party,  yet  through  God's 
goodness  it  hath  so  far  prevailed  as  to  produce  the 
removal  of  the  High  Commission,  the  making  void  the 
coercive  powers  of  the  prelates  and  their  courts,  the 
ejection  of  bishops  from  the  House  of  Peers,  the  turn- 
ing out  of  many  scandalous  ministers  ;  besides  that 
they  have  passed  and  presented  to  his  majesty  divers 
bills — viz.,  for  the  suppi-ession  of  innovations;  for  the 
more  strict  observation  of  the  Lord's  Day;  against 
pluralities  and  non-residence ;  for  the  punishment  of 
the  scandalous  clergy ;  for  the  abolition  of  Episcoj)acy, 
and  the  calling  an  Assembly."  ^ 

At  this  period  the  Parliamentary  party  were  in  a 
critical  position.  They  were  steadily  losing  ground 
in  the  war,  and  defeat  and  death  on  the  scaffold 
looked  the  leaders  in  the  face.  It  was  the  question  of 
life  or  death  to  them  to  have  a  good  army,  and  Scot- 
land was  the  place  where  that  commodity  was  to  be 
found.  Scotland  was  therefore  earnestly  and  sedu- 
lously cultivated.  Some  thirty  years  before,  the  Scots 
were  a  people  somewhat  indifferent  about  religious 
matters,  but  late  events  had  thrown  them  into  the 
cause  of  the  Covenant  with  all  the  ardour  and  steady 
endurance  of  their  nature.  The  progress  made  by 
England  towards  their  own  position  was  the  best  mode 
of  propitiating  them ;  and  this  policy  was  completed 
by  a  bold  and  brilliant  stroke,  when  England,  after  the 
preliminaries  to  be  told  in  dealing  with  the  Assembly 
of  Divines,  adopted  the  Solemn  League  and  Covenant, 
and  suggested  it  as  a  bond  of  brotherhood  for  all  the 
three  kingdoms.     A  more  august  national  compliment 

^  Peterkin's  Records,  347. 


SOLEMN    LEAGUE    AND    COVENANT,    1643.       171 

could  not  have  been  paid  :  it  was  the  two  great  na- 
tions humbly  and  dutifully  following  the  small  com- 
munity of  chosen  people  in  the  path  of  righteousness. 
The  Solemn  League  and  Covenant  took  the  essence, 
both  of  its  purport  and  of  the  terms  in  which  this  was 
expressed,  from  the  National  Covenant  of  Scotland. 

There  were  many  references  in  the  Scottish  docu- 
ment to  Acts  of  the  Estates  and  the  Assembly,  which 
were  of  course  omitted.  But  under  that  omission, 
necessary  as  it  was,  there  lurked  a  great  policy.  It 
was  these  references  that  specially  linked  the  Scottish 
Covenant  to  the  Presbyterian  form  of  Church  govern- 
ment. Otherwise,  it  was  a  mere  protest  against  Popery, 
and  an  obligation  to  support  the  Eeformed  faith.  The 
Solemn  League  and  Covenant  had  nothing  as  a  substi- 
tute for  these  references  to  bind  its  adherents  to  the 
Presbyterian  polity.  The  only  clause  approaching 
such  an  obligation  Avas  for  "  the  preservation  of  the 
Eeformed  religion  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  in  doc- 
trine, worship,  discipline,  and  government,  against  our 
common  enemies."  The  promise  as  to  the  rest  was, 
"  The  reformation  of  religion  in  the  kingdoms  of  Eng- 
land and  Ireland  in  doctrine,  worship,  discipline,  and 
government,  according  to  the  Word  of  God,  and  the 
example  of  the  best  Eeformed  Churches."  ^  The  Scots 
seemed  to  have  no  doubt  that  this  meant  their  own 
example.  The  homage  to  the  superior  sense  and 
sanctity  of  Scotland  was  intoxicating,  and  both  in 
Parliament  and  the  Assembly  the  Solemn  League  and 
Covenant  were  received  with  rapture.  Statutes  were 
passed  for  enforcing  subscription  throughout  all  the 
three  kingdoms  to  this  new  testimony. 

1  Peterkin's  Records,  362. 


172  CHARLES    I. 

On  some  minor  points  the  English  Parliament  con- 
tinued to  gratify  the  Scots  Avith  judicious  alacrity. 
They  were  zealous  against  the  religious  observance  of 
what  they  called  "  Youle,"  or  the  ancient  heathen 
festival  of  YoU,  preserved  in  England  under  the  guise 
of  Christmas.  Would  the  Parliament  gratify  the 
commissioners  by  sitting  and  working  on  that  day  ? 
"  We  prevailed,"  says  Baillie,  "  with  our  friends  of  the 
Lower  House,  to  carry  it  so  in  Parliament  that  both 
Houses  did  profane  that  holy  clay  by  sitting  on  it  to 
our  joy  and  some  of  the  Assembly's  shame."' ^  But 
though,  ready  to  gratify  them  with  any  amount  of 
words,  or  some  small  deeds  such  as  this,  the  Parliament 
kept  behind  all  a  resolute  determination  never  to 
subject  themselves  to  Presbyterian  discipline. 

The  king  told  them  at  the  time,  what  was  true, 
that  the  Parliamentary  party,  "  what  pretence  soever 
they  make  of  the  care  of  the  true  Reformed  Protestant 
religion,  are  in  truth  Brownists  and  Anabaptists,  and 
other  independent  sectaries  ;  and  though  they  seem  to 
desire  an  uniformity  of  Church  government  with  our 
kingdom  of  Scotland,  do  no  more  intend,  and  are  as 
far  from  allowing;  the  Church  government  established 
there,  or  indeed  any  Church  government  whatsoever, 
as  they  are  from  consenting  to  the  Episcopal."^ 

'  Baillie's  Letters,  ii.  12L 

"  The  King's  Majestie's  Declaration  to  all  his  loving  Subjects  of  his 
Kingdom  of  Scotland,  Edinburgh,  164.3.  There  is  somewhat  of  a  pathetic 
eloquence  in  the  following  passage  in  this  paper  :  "We  do  conjure  all  the 
good  subjects  of  that  our  native  kingdom,  by  the  long,  happy,  and  unin- 
terrupted government  of  us  and  our  royal  progenitors  over  them — by 
the  memory  of  those  many  large  and  public  blessings  they  enjoyed  under 
our  dear  father — by  those  ample  favours  and  benefits  they  have  received 
from  us  —  by  their  own  solemn  National  Covenant,  and  their  obliga- 
tion of  friendship  and  brotherhood  with  the  kingdom  of  England,  not  to 


SECOND    INVASION    OF    ENGLAND,    1643.         173 

The  Estates  of  Scotland  assembled  on  the  2  2d  of 
June  1643,  to  deal  with  the  momentous  question  now 
demanding  a  decision.  It  was  a  meeting  by  convention 
— that  is  to  say,  without  the  warrant  or  concurrence 
of  the  king,  and  indeed  in  this  instance  against  his 
counter-order.  But  this  was  no  longer  a  critical  step 
to  be  deeply  pondered — it  was  a  matter  almost  of  in- 
difference, and  was  treated  as  the  restoration  of  an  old 
constitutional  privilege  which  in  the  recent  servile 
times  had  been  almost  forgotten.  The  Committee 
of  Estates  was  reappointed,  and  the  local  war  com- 
mittees resumed  their  work  in  the  counties.  The 
leading  men  and  the  nation  at  large  had  become 
accustomed  to  sudden  calls  to  arms,  as  soldiers  are 
when  they  have  been  in  long  practice ;  and  we 
hear  nothing,  as  in  the  previous  marches,  of  the 
rumours  and  preparations. 

When  fully  determined  on,  the  affair  was  pursued 
with  thorough  earnestness.  To  meet  the  threatening 
exigencies  of  their  allies,  an  army  of  twenty-one  thou- 
sand men  began  its  march  southward  in  the  depth  of 
winter,  with  deep  snow  on  the  ground.  It  was  natu- 
ral that  the  force  should  be  again  commanded  by  the 
old  Earl  of  Leven ;  but  it  has  to  be  noted,  because  it 
was  material  to  the  result,  that  he  was  accompanied 
by  his  nephew,  David  Leslie,  a  greater  soldier  than 
himself,   who   assisted  him  as  major-general. 

The  capture  of  Newcastle  by  the  Scots  in  1641 
had  made  both  parties   see  how    important   was   the 

suifer  themselves  to  be  misled  and  corrupted  in  their  affection  and  duty 
to  us  by  the  cunning,  malice,  and  industry  of  these  seditious  persons 
and  their  adherents,  but  to  look  on  them  as  persons  who  would  involve 
them  in  their  guilt,  and  sacrifice  the  honour,  fidelity,  and  allegiance 
of  that  our  native  kingdom  to  their  private  end  and  ambition."— P.  8. 


174  CHARLES    I. 

port  on  which  London  and  many  other  towns  in 
southern  England  depended  for  fueh  The  place  was 
strongly  fortified  and  garrisoned.  It  was  the  point 
to  which  the  queen  was  to  bring  the  aid  slie  might 
obtain  from  abroad  in  money  and  troops.  The  news 
Avent  about  that  at  one  disembarkation  there  were' 
landed  there  from  the  Hague,  at  the  queen's  direc- 
tion, a  thousand  stand  of  arms,  twenty  pieces  of 
ordnance,  and  two  thousand  ^Dounds  in  money,  accom- 
panied by  eighty  experienced  officers,  "  with  many 
horse  for  service,  waggons,  &c."  ^ 

The  Parliament  issued  an  ordinance,  finding  "  that 
since  the  beginning  of  the  present  troubles,  that  town 
of  Newcastle,  being  possessed  by  forces  raised  against 
the  king  and  Parliament,  hath  become  and  is  the  prin- 
cipal inlet  of  foreign  aid,  forces,  and  ammunition." 
As  vessels  entering  the  harbour  on  the  profession,  real 
or  pretended,  of  exporting  coal,  helped  the  garrison  by 
importing  provisions  and  munitions  of  war,  the  expor- 
tation of  coal  from  Newcastle  was  prohibited.^  The 
Parliament  took  strong  measures  artificially  to  supply 
London  with  coal  from  other  places  and  with  fire- 
wood; but  while  the  town  remained  in  the  hands  of 
the  Eoyalists  the  prohibition  was  a  source  of  extreme 
misery — it  hence  became  all  the  more  momentous  that 
Newcastle  should  be  taken.  A  special  fund  was  raised 
in  the  city  of  London  for  this  service,  and  with  some 
ingenuity  it  was  aided  by  a  heavy  licence  duty  on  the 
privilege  of  bringing  coals  from  Newcastle  in  exemp- 
tion from  the  prohibition.  But  the  fighting- work  was 
to  be  done  by  the  Scots  army. 

^  "A  great  Discovery;"  Newcastle  Reprints,  11. 
^  Ordinance  ;  Newcastle  Reprints. 


SECOND    INVASION    OF    ENGLAND,    1643.         175 

On  tlie  19tli  of  January  1644  Leslie  again  crossed 
the  Tweed  witli  an  army  rather  more  than  twenty 
thousand  strong.  We  are  told  that  the  river  was  so 
strongly  frozen  as  to  permit  a  passage  on  the  ice  even 
for  the  heavy  baggage.  When  they  reached  New- 
burn,  -where  they  had  crossed  before,  they  found 
the  passage  too  strongly  fortified  to  be  attempted. 
They  had  to  march  farther  up,  and  on  the  28th 
crossed  at  three  fords  —  Ovinghame,  Bydwell,  and 
Altringhame.  It  was  deep  wading,  and  one  of  the 
army  says:  "The  Lord's  providence  was  observable 
in  that  nick  of  time  we  passed  the  river,  which  for 
eight  days  after  would  have  been  impossible  for  us 
to  have  done,  in  respect  of  the  swelling  of  the  river 
by  the  melting  of  the  snow."  ^ 

Resting  on  Sunday,  they  entered  Sunderland  on 
Monday  the  4th.  Appearances  threatened  a  battle 
there.  Sir  Charles  liucas,  with  a  force  estimated  at 
fourteen  thousand,  and  strong  in  horse,  formed  on  a 
height  close  by  in  battle  order,  and  the  Scots  pre- 
pared to  close.  The  armies  faced  each  other  for  a 
whole  day.  It  was  not  the  policy  of  the  Scots  to 
weaken  themselves  before  besieging  Newcastle;  and 
Lucas,  as  it  seems,  thinking  it  unsafe  to  attack  them, 
moved  southwards.  The  retreat  tempted  the  Scots 
to  harass  his  rear;  but  a  snowstorm,  through  which 
they  could  not  see  their  enemy,  baffled  the  attempt, 
and  the  English,  after  material  losses  from  cold 
and  storm,  sought  rest  in  Durham.  The  weather 
gave  material  advantage  to  the  Scots,  with  their  hard 
northern  training.  We  find  them  taking  a  march  of 
"  eighteen  Scottish  miles  when  it  was  a  knee  -  deep 

1  Proceedings  of  the  Scottiali  Army;  Newcastle  Reprints,  11. 


176  CHARLES    I. 

snow,  and  blowing  and  snowing  so  vehemently  that 
the  guides  could  with  great  difficulty  know  the  way, 
and  it  was  enough  for  the  followers  to  discern  the 
leaders  ;  notwithstanding  whereof  they  were  very 
cheerful  all  the  way  ;  and  after  they  had  been  a 
little  refreshed  at  night,  professed  they  were  willing 
to  march  as  far  to-morrow."  ^ 

Some  small  outforts  —  one  of  them  at  Coquet 
Island,  another  at  South  Shields — were  easily  taken. 
Without  a  Eoyalist  army  to  support  them  they  could 
not  stand  in  the  face  of  the  large  force  brought  from 
Scotland.  The  siege  of  Newcastle,  however,  was  to  be 
a  great  trial  of  strength.  The  Koyalists  of  the  north 
took  their  families  and  movable  valuables  into  that 
town,  as  the  best  hope  for  safety  in  the  confusion 
of  the  war,  and  there  a  critical  contest  in  the  great 
civil  war  was  to  be  decided.^ 

It  was  an  affair  of  time.  The  Scots  force  had  been 
hastened  to  the  spot  rather  to  blockade  the  town  in  the 
mean  time  than  to  attempt  its  capture ;  for  a  large 
portion  of  the  siege-train  had  yet  to  be  brought  up, 
and,  in  the  language  coming  into  use  as  to  operations 

^  The  Scots  Army  advanced  into  England,  &c. ;  Newcastle  Reprints,  12. 

'  An  observer  on  the  spot  says  :  "  The  Scots  lie  quartered  about 
Morpeth,  Seaton,  Hepham,  Ogle  Castle,  Prude,  and  those  parts  about 
Newcastle  ;  and  have  laid  a  strong  siege  about  Newcastle  also,  and  lie 
close  under  the  very  walls.  The  Malignants  are  for  the  most  part  all 
gone  into  Newcastle  when  they  tirst  heard  of  the  Scots."  "  They  do 
carry  themselves  so  civilly  and  orderly  that  the  country  do  even  admire 
them,  taking  not  the  worth  of  a  penny  from  any  man  but  what  they 
pay  fully  for  ;  and  they  are  not  come  unprovided,  for  every  soldier 
hath  two  or  three  pieces  in  his  pocket  ;  and  there  hath  thousands  come 
into  them  and  taken  the  Covenant,  and  their  army  doth  exceedingly 
increase."  Tliese  are  the  notes  of  a  Parliamentary  man  and  a  par- 
tisan— a  certain  Colonel  Curfet — arriving  at  the  spot  on  the  4th  of 
February.  He  seems  to  have  taken  service  with  Leslie.  "A  true 
Relation  of  the  Scots  taking  Coquet  Island;"  Newcastle  Reprints. 


SIEGE    OF    NEWCASTLE,    1643-44.  177 

on  fortified  places,  tlie  besieging  general  had  to  "  sit 
down  "  before  NeAvcastle.  Desirous  to  avoid  a  storm- 
ing, they  offered  what  they  considered  good  terms,  and 
complained  that  the  enemy  trifled  with  them.^  The 
Royalist  garrison  was  indeed  under  strong  temptation 
to  hold  out,  as  a  slight  turn  in  the  fortunes  of  war 
might  bring  a  relieving  force  to  the  gate.  There  were, 
as  we  shall  see,  great  things  done  elsewhere  in  the 
mean  time;  but  October  came,  and  still  the  situation 
at  Newcastle  was  the  same.  On  the  19th  the  critical 
moment  had  come  :  "  We  had  been  so  long  expecting 
that  these  men  within  the  town  should  have  pitied 
themselves  ;  all  our  batteries  were  ready;  so  many  of 
our  mines  as  they  had  not  found  out  and  drowned 
were  in  clanger  of  their  hourly  finding  out ;  the  winter 
was  drawing  on,  and  our  soldiers  were  earnest  to  have 
some  end  of  the  business,  which  made  the  general, 
after  so  many  slightings,  to  begin  this  morning  to 
make  breaches,  whereof  we  had  three,  and  four  mines. 

'  "  1.  That  all  officers  and  soldiers  who  are  desirous  to  go  out  of  town, 
should  have  liberty  to  go,  with  arms,  bag,  and  baggage,  to  any  garrison 
not  beleaguered,  within  sixty  miles  ;  and  should  have  a  convoy,  waggons, 
and  meat  on  the  way. 

"  2.  That  all  strangers,  sojourners,  or  inhabitants,  who  desired  to  go 
with  the  soldiers,  should  have  the  like  liberty  and  accommodation. 

"  3.  The  town  shall  enjoy  their  privileges  and  jurisdiction  conform  to 
their  ancient  charters. 

"  4.  The  persons,  houses,  family,  and  goods  of  the  citizens  and  inhabi- 
tants should  be  free  and  protected  from  violence. 

"  5.  They  should  have  their  free-trade  and  commerce,  as  other  towns 
reduced  to  the  obedience  of  the  king  and  Parliament. 

"  6.  That  any  of  them  who  desired  to  go  into  the  country,  and  live  in 
their  country  houses,  should  have  safeguard  for  their  persons,  families, 
goods,  and  houses. 

"  7.  That  no  free  billeting  should  be  imposed  on  them  without  their 
own  consent. 

"  8.  The  army  should  not  enter  the  town,  but  only  a  competent 
garrison." — Newcastle  Reprints. 

VOL.  VII.  M 


178  CHARLES    I. 

Tlie  breaches  were  made  reasonably  low  before  three 
of  the  clock  at  night.  All  our  mines  played  very  well. 
They  within  the  town  continued  still  obstinate.  My 
Lord  Chancellor's  regiment  and  Buccleugh's  entered  at 
a  breach  at  Close  Gate.  The  general  of  the  artillery, 
his  regiment,  and  that  of  Edinburgh,  entered  at  a  mine 
at  the  White  Tower."  In  all,  eight  storming-parties 
attacked  through  mines  or  breaches,  and  carried  them.^ 

The  fate  of  the  town  and  its  fortifications  was  thus 
decided.  The  castle  held  out,  and  capitulated  on  the 
27th.  The  decision  of  the  great  coal  question,  just  as 
winter  was  beginning  to  announce  his  approach,  made 
the  event  auspicious  to  the  middle  classes  and  the 
poor  of  England  in  the  south.  A  Cavalier  historian  tells 
us  that  "  the  surrendry  proved  of  great  importance  to 
the  city  of  London,  where  the  poorer  sort  of  people 
for  the  two  last  years  had  been  almost  starved  for  want 
of  fuel,  coals  having  risen  to  the  price  of  four  pounds 
a  chaldron,  a  price  never  known  before  that  time."^ 

While  the  siege-works  or  "approaches"  moved  on, 
work  had  been  found  elsewhere  for  the  general  and 
the  greater  portion  of  the  army.  They  marched  to 
Tadcaster  in  March,  and  there  met  the  Parliamentary 
army  under  Manchester,  Fairfax,  and  Cromwell.  A 
Royalist  force  under  the  Marcjuess  of  Newcastle  held 
York,  and  the  united  armies  determined  to  drive  them 
out.  The  commander  sent  a  flag  to  Leven,  asking 
what  his  intentions  were  in  having  "  beleaguered  this 

1  "  A  Letter  from  Newcastle,  &o.,  containing  a  Relation  of  the  taking 
of  Newcastle  by  storm,  dated  the  19th  of  October  1G44;"  Newcastle  Ee- 
prints.  The  places  entered  by  the  storming-parties  are  here  enumerated, 
and  explanations  are  afforded  by  the  editor  for  their  identification  at 
the  present  day. 

=  Echard,  iii.  482. 


SIEGE    OF    NEWCASTLE,    1643-44.  179 

city  on  all  sides,  made  batteries  against  it,  and  so  near 
approached  it."  The  old  soldier's  answer  might  have 
been  taken  as  a  jest  if  the  game  had  been  less  serious — 
he  had  brought  his  forces  before  the  city  "  with  inten- 
tion to  reduce  it  to  the  obedience  of  king  and  Parlia- 
ment." ^  The  investment  here  was  not  so  complete, 
however,  as  to  prevent  passage  and  the  strengthening 
of  the  garrison.  It  was  said  that  Rupert  should  have 
been  contented wdth  this;  but  it  is  questionable  whether 
the  augmented  garrison  could  have  stood  against  the 
augmented  army  before  it.  However  it  was,  he  gave 
battle  at  Long  Marston  ]\Ioor,  about  five  miles  west- 
ward of  York.  On  this  renowned  field  there  are  none 
of  the  marked  features  which  sometimes  help  so  mate- 
rially to  clear  the  scope  and  tenor  of  a  pitched  battle 
from  the  confused  details  of  those  who  have  described 
it.  The  necessity  of  circumstances,  not  a  choice  on 
either  side,  forced  the  armies  to  fight  it  out  where 
they  were.  To  prevent  the  allies  from  reaching  York, 
Rupert  had  to  keep  sufficiently  near  to  wheel  and  meet 
his  enemy  at  any  point.  Within  that  limit  the  allies 
had  their  choice  of  ground,  and  had  any  point  ofi"ered 
advantage,  they  might  have  secured  it ;  but  the  whole 
was  a  flat  plain,  on  which  they  descended  from  a  low 
ridge  of  hills  to  the  west.  There  were  thus  neither 
helps  nor  impediments,  except  of  the  smaller  kind,  in 
which  one  who  was  present  mentions  "furze  and 
ditches."  The  only  diff'erence  between  the  two  posi- 
tions was,  that  Prince  Rupert's  army  was  on  the  open 
moor,  and  the  other  in  cultivated  fields.  The  numbers 
seem  to  have  been  well  balanced — about  twenty-three 
thousand  on  each  side. 

1  Rushworth,  v.  624,  625. 


l80  CHARLES    I. 

Prince  Eupert  headed  one  of  those  impetuous 
attacks  for  which  he  was  renowned,  and  scattered 
before  him  the  right  of  the  allied  army  under  Fairfax 
and  Leven.  It  was  one  of  those  great  blows  that  may 
confuse  a  whole  army;  but  the  other  half  was  in  very 
competent  hands — those  of  Cromwell  and  David  Leslie. 
They  beat  back  their  opponents,  not  by  a  rush,  but 
a  hard  steady  fight,  and  were  on  the  enemy's  ground 
when  Eupert  returned  from  a  pursuit  which  he  had 
carried  too  far.  He  found  that  while  he  had  been  away 
pursuing  the  defeated  enemy,  events  behind  him  had 
arranged  matters  for  a  second  battle,  in  which  each 
occupied  the  ground  that  earlier  in  the  day  had 
belonged  to  the  other  side.  The  end  was  an  entire 
victory  both  over  those  who  had  been  driven  back 
and  those  who  had  pursued  as  victors.  There  was 
much  debate  on  the  question  whether  it  was  to  Crom- 
well or  to  David  Leslie  that  the  merit  of  the  victory 
was  due;  and  it  came  to  be  said  that  the  English 
claimed  it  for  Cromwell  and  the  Independents — the 
Scots  for  David  Leslie  and  the  Presbyterians.  The 
fact  material  to  the  position  of  Scotland  at  this  point 
of  time  is,  that  certainly  the  victory  would  not  have 
been  gained  but  for  the  Scots  army,  and  that  the  posi- 
tion taken  by  Scotland  at  this  critical  juncture  gave 
a  tone  and  influence  to  the  whole  of  the  struggle.^ 

^  There  is  more  than  the  usual  difficulty  in  unravelling  the  details 
of  this  battle,  as  on  the  side  of  the  allies  there  were  three  commanders— 
Leven,  Fairfax,  and  Manchester — and  yet  the  victory  is  not  accredited  to 
any  one  of  them.  As  if  this  did  not  furnish  sufficient  element  of  con- 
fusion we  have  to  look  to  two  committees — one  from  the  English  and 
another  from  the  Soots  Parliament — who  were  joint  commanders-in-chief 
In  the  official  despatches  Leven's  signature  takes  precedence,  followed 
by  Fairfax's  and  lilauchester's.  In  the  despatch  after  the  battle,  David 
Leslie's  name  came  in  as  a  joint  leader.    He  seems  to  have  been  the 


Montrose's  campaign,  1644-45.  181 

It  is  now  time  to  turn  to  a  scene  of  strife  nearer 
home.  It  Avas  less  momentous  than  the  war  in  Eng- 
land ;  it  left  the  political  conditions,  indeed,  just  as  it 
found  them,  and  made  no  other  mark  on  the  country 
but  the  miseries  attending  a  rapid  succession  of  small 
battles.  But  these  had  picturesque  peculiarities  which 
have  found  for  them  an  interest.  It  seems  to  have  first 
occurred  to  the  queen  that  the  ardour  and  military 
genius  of  Montrose  might  be  turned  to  use.  To  him 
it  had  occurred  that  a  large  amount  of  fighting  ma- 
terial lay  waste  in  the  British  dominions.  He  had 
himself  seen  the  Celt  at  war  in  Scotland  both  as  an 
ally  and  an  enemy.  The  Irish  rebellion  had  shown 
all  too  well  that  the  race  could  be  effective  in  one  of 
the  chief  ends  of  warfare — the  destructive.  To  the 
formal  commander  in  legitimate  warfare,  the  Celts,  as 
seen  chiefly  in  the  Highlanders,  had  many  and  fatal 
defects.      They  had  a  system  of  discipline  of  their 

hero  of  the  day,  though  Cromwell's  presence,  interpreted  through  his 
subsequent  career,  has  brought  him  to  the  front  in  history.  Cromwell 
had  only  the  command  of  three  hundred  horse  (Eushworth,  v.  634),  and 
though  he  no  doubt  handled  them  effectively,  the  force  was  scarcely  large 
enough  to  give  the  ruling  influence  to  such  a  victory.  There  is  so  little 
said  of  him  in  contemporary  documents,  that  his  conduct  in  the  battle 
has  been  bandied  between  contradictory  mysteries.  By  one  account  he 
had  to  be  removed  to  get  a  wound  dressed,  and  it  was  owing  to  this  tem- 
porary absence  of  the  ruling  spirit  that  Rupert  gained  his  advantage 
(A  short  critical  View  of  the  Political  Life  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  by  a 
Gentleman  of  the  Middle  Temple,  p.  24).  In  the  Memorial  of  Denzil 
HoUis  it  is  maintained  that  Cromwell  left  the  field  in  a  fright — an  ad- 
dition to  the  many  instances  in  which,  through  the  spirit  of  paradox, 
cowardice  is  attributed  to  those  who  by  their  general  conduct  have  shown 
it  to  be  nearly  impossible  that  they  could  be  liable  to  this  frailty.  It  is 
said  that  in  this  battle  four  thousand  were  killed  on  the  field,  but,  as 
usually  befalls  the  returns  of  killed  in  battle,  on  imperfect  information — 
merely  that  "  the  countrymen  who  were  commanded  to  bury  the  corpses 
gave  out  that  they  interred  four  thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty  bodies." 
(Rushworth,  v.  6:35). 


I82  CHARLES    I. 

own,  very  lax  and  precarious,  and  they  would  work 
in  no  otlier.  They  would  follow  no  leaders  and  obey 
no  commanders  but  those  whom  the  accident  of  birth 
had  set  over  them,  and  the  highest  military  skill  was 
lost  in  any  attempt  to  control  them.  They  were  in- 
veterate plunderers  ;  and  instead  of  contenting  them- 
selves with  articles  small  and  valuable  which  they 
could  carry  with  them  on  the  march,  or  with  the 
price  of  what  they  could  sell,  they  would  seize  any- 
thing— furniture  or  clothing — and  scamper  home  with 
it.  After  a  battle  they  all  dispersed  to  their  own 
glens, — loaded  with  plunder  if  they  were  successful — 
dejected  and  dispirited  if  they  were  not.  They  were 
unsteady  in  face  of  a  fusilade,  and  the  roar  of  the 
cannon  scattered  them  like  a  flight  of  pigeons.  Finally, 
if  they  were  unsuccessful  in  their  first  dash  at  the 
enemy,  they  gave  up  the  contest  and  dispersed.  On 
the  other  hand,  they  were  all  ready  for  the  field,  and 
trained  to  fight  after  their  manner.  Their  rush  on 
the  enemy  was  terrible.  If  the  method  of  conducting 
a  war  were  to  their  taste,  their  patience  and  endur- 
ance were  inexhaustible.  They  were  fit  for  the  field 
after  starvations  that  ^vould  ruin  ordinary  troops. 
They  required  no  commissariat  or  baggage-train,  and 
could  cross  wild  ranges  of  country,  and  pounce  on  any 
destined  spot  like  their  own  eagles. 

Since  the  time  of  Harlaw  there  had  never  been  so 
many  of  them  in  the  field  as  to  be  properly  a  High- 
land army.  When  the  old  claims  of  the  Lords  of  the 
Isles  to  something  like  royalty  died,  the  chiefs  of  clans 
would  not  serve  under  each  other.  Hence  no  High- 
land army  was  ever  led  by  a  Highlander.  It  was 
to  be  seen  whether  such  a  feat  could  be  accomplished 
by  a  Lowlander.     The  experiment  succeeded.      If  the 


MONTROSE  S    CAMPAIGN,    1644-45.  183 

clansman  had  liis  own  immediate  chief  to  give  the 
word  of  command,  the  question,  Avho  gave  authority 
to  that  chief,  was  beyond  the  scope  of  his  philosophy. 
With  such  their  defects  and  their  qualifications,  there 
was  a  prejudice  against  the  employment  of  such  hands 
in  warfare  —  a  certain  discredit  rested  on  the  act, 
indeed,  for  reasons  already  referred  to.^  The  vindi- 
cation for  their  employment  on  this  occasion  would 
of  course  be,  that  the  cause  of  the  Crown  being  in  a 
desperate  condition,  demanded  and  justified  a  desper- 
ate remedy. 

Montrose's  scheme  was  not  so  wild  as  at  a  first 
glance  it  might  appear.  He  did  not  propose  to  re- 
conquer Scotland  to  the  royal  cause  with  bis  High- 
landers, even  though  aided  by  unlimited  drafts  on 
Ireland.  His  project  was  to  get  Leven's  army,  of 
more  than  twenty  thousand  trained  and  hardy  soldiers, 
out  of  England,  where  they  decidedly  turned  the 
balance  of  war  against  the  king.  He  was  to  make 
them  find  the  necessity  of  returning  home  for  the 
defence  of  Scotland.  When  he  first  suggested  the 
plan,  it  was  by  Hamilton's  advice  rejected  ;  and  some 
authors  on  the  Cavalier  side  regretfully  say  that  it 
was  adopted  just  when  it  had  become  too  late. 

His  commission  gave  him  plenary  sovereign  powers, 
through  an  ingenious  arrangement  for  avoiding  of- 
fence to  those  of  rank  above  his  own  whom  he  was 
set  over.  A  patent  was  issued  to  Prince  Eupert  of 
a  novel  character,  making  him  Viceroy  of  Scotland. 
Montrose  was  his  lieutenant,  who  was  to  do  the  vice- 
roy's work.  His  intention  was  to  march  from  Eng- 
land with  a  force  sufiiciently  strong  to  make  its  way 
through  Scotland,  until  it  was  joined  by  the  High- 

^  See  above,  p.  154. 


1 84  CHARLES    I. 

landers  and  the  Irish  promised  by  Antrim.  In  this 
view  he  desired  a  detachment  from  Newcastle's  army 
in  the  north  to  be  put  at  his  command.  Coming,  as 
he  did,  with  high  authority  and  designs  which  must 
weaken  an  army  already  all  too  feeble  for  its  own 
work,  he  Avas  not  a  welcome  counsellor  to  the  har- 
assed commander  of  the  royal  army.  He  got  but  a 
small  force — some  eight  hundred  footmen,  as  it  is  said, 
and  three  troops  of  horse.  With  these  he  was  able  to 
do  no  more  than  harass  the  south-west  of  Scotland, 
and  drive  the  Covenanters  out  of  the  town  of  Dum- 
fries. He  thought  by  personal  application  to  Prince 
Eupert,  his  superior  in  command,  to  accomplish  his 
object.  But  he  joined  Eupert  on  the  day  after  Marston 
Moor,  not  a  time  propitious  to  parting  with  a  portion 
of  his  army.^  It  became  clear  that  Montrose  would 
not  obtain  a  force  sufficient  to  carry  him  to  the  spot 
where  he  was  to  find  his  Irish  and  Highland  army. 
This  was  no  doubt  irritating  and  mortifying ;  but  in 
the  end  it  was  the  foundation  of  his  fame,  since  it 
gave  him  the  opportunity  for  playing  the  hero  in  one 
of  the  most  brilliant  passages  of  the  romance  of  war. 
He  resolved  to  find  his  way  in  disguise  to  the  place 
where  he  would  discover  his  army.  He  executed  this 
design  very  skilfully.  As  Lieutenant-General  of  Scot- 
land he  was  ostensibly  on  his  way  to  the  king  at  Ox- 
ford in  all  suitable  pomp.  The  carriage  and  the  train 
kept  moving  slowly  onwards,  while  he  who  should 
have  been  the  centre  of  all  the  pomp  was  on  his  way 
through  Scotland,  dressed  as  a  groom,  and,  to  appear- 
ance, in  attendance  upon  two  gentlemen,  Sir  William 
Eollo    and    Colonel  Sibbald,    who  virtually  were  in 

'  Rush  worth,  v.  482. 


Montrose's  campaign,  1644-45.  i8S 

attendance  on  him.  He  thus  arrived  in  safety  at 
TuUibeltane,  in  the  Highlands  of  Perthshire,  where  he 
found  his  kinsman,  Graham  of  Inchbrachie.  The  ad- 
venture appeared  for  some  time  to  be  a  dead  failure. 
The  Estates  and  their  committee  had  organised  so 
strong  a  government  that  neither  those  Lowlanders 
Avho  belonged  to  the  Cavalier  party,  nor  the  Highlanders 
who  were  delighted  to  rise  against  any  government 
that  was  strong  and  orderly,  durst  move.  He  heard 
at  last  that  Antrim's  Irish  troops  had  arrived,- — a  per- 
centage only  of  the  promised  number — some  twelve 
hundred  instead  of  ten  thousand.  They  were  in 
imminent  danger  of  extermination  by  Argyle,  when 
they  received  an  order  from  Montrose,  as  the  king's 
lieutenant,  to  march  to  Blair  AthoU.  Here  he  raised 
the  standard.  The  "  fiery  cross "  went  through  the 
glens,  and  with  the  marvellous  celerity  peculiar  to 
Highland  gatherings,  he  was  speedily  at  the  head  of 
some  three  thousand  men.  Accident  favoured  him  ; 
for  his  standard  was  joined  by  Lord  Kilpont,  Avith  a 
body  of  men  who  had  been  assembled  for  the  avowed 
purpose  of  opposing  the  Irish  aggressors.  It  was 
resolved  to  march  on  Perth,  Montrose  Avalking  at  the 
head  of  his  force  in  a  Highland  dress.^ 

When  rumours  of  this  formidable  movement  reached 
the  citizens  of  the  town  and  the  neighbouring  Low- 
landers,  they  gathered  in  a  tumultuous  body,  placing 
Lord  Elcho  at  their  head.  They  marched,  if  march- 
ing it  could  be  called,  to  a  barren  plain  called  Tip- 
permuir,  some  four  miles  west  of  Perth.     It  is  said 

'  His  costume  is  called  "  coat  and  trews,"  or  tronsers,  a  costume  not 
now  associated  with  the  Highlands.  In  one  place,  however,  Spalding 
says  "  the  lieutenant  was  clad  in  coat  and  trews,  as  the  Irishes  was 
clad,"  meaning  by  "  Irishes  "  Highlanders  (p.  409). 


l86  CHARLES    I. 

that  tliey  were  more  than  double  the  numljer  of  their 
enemies  ;  but,  a  mere  mob  as  they  were,  their  numbers 
only  increased  their  incapacity  to  meet  an  enemy. 
On  Montrose's  side  we  have  the  first  instance  of  that 
simple  tactic  by  which  many  Highland  victories  were 
afterwards  gained.  Those  who  had  pieces  discharged 
them  and  threw  them  down  ;  then  all  swept  forward 
in  the  great  rush  that  must  be  destructive  either  to 
their  enemies  or  themselves.  In  this  instance  the 
rush  was  successful — the  confused  mass  of  people  at 
once  broke  and  scattered.  They  were  pursued  and 
slain  by  their  nimble  enemies.  It  is  only  in  the 
amount  of  the  slaughter — estimated  at  two  thousand 
— that  this  affair  deserves  the  dignified  title  of  a 
battle  ;  it  occurred  on  Sunday  the  1st  of  September.^ 
At  a  distance,  however,  it  sounded  emphatically  in 
giving  Montrose  possession  of  Perth.  This  city  was 
at  that  time  second  only  to  Edinburgh  as  a  military 
position ;  it  was  the  capital  of  a  large  district,  and 
in  the  centre  of  Scotland.  A  battle  followed  by  such 
an  acquisition  seemed  almost  to  balance  Marston  Moor 
and  the  possession  of  York. 

To  Montrose,    however,   the    acquisition  was  only 
of  importance  in  the   plunder  it  afforded.      He  re- 

1  Such,  when  stripped  of  attempts  at  military  pedantry,  appears  to 
be  the  purport  of  the  account  of  "  the  battle  of  Tippermoor  "  given  by 
Montrose's  eulogistic  biographer  Wishart.  It  is  useless  to  compare  it 
with  the  other  accounts,  as  they  are  all  derived  from  it.  The  ground 
where  the  affair  occurred  is  a  low  upland  now  covered  with  a  dark  fir 
plantation.  It  rises  up  westward  from  a  farm  called  Cultmalindy,  and 
its  local  name  is  Lamerkin  Muir,  Tippermuir  being  the  name  of  the 
parish  and  a  neighbouring  small  village.  Except  that  it  has  a  full  view 
of  the  Grampians,  it  is  an  uninteresting  battle-field,  since.it  was  not  se- 
lected according  to  a  tactic  on  either  side,  but  was  the  mere  spot  where 
the  two  bodies  of  men,  going  in  opposite  directions,  met  each  other. 
For  the  local  account  of  this  affair  see  Memorabilia  of  Perth,  107. 


Montrose's  campaign,  1644-45.  187 

mained  but  three  days  in  Perth.  He  had  to  evade 
Argyle,  who  was  approaching  with  a  large  force ;  and 
his  Highlanders,  as  usual,  were  scattering  homewards 
with  their  plunder.  From  some  mysterious  quarrel, 
Kilpont  was  murdered  in  the  camp,  and  his  con- 
tingent went  off  in  a  body.  Montrose  had  few  beyond 
the  worthless  Irish,  who  could  not  leave  him.  He 
found  compensation  for  his  losses,  however,  in  recruits 
from  the  Oa;ilvies  and  other  Cavaliers  on  the  Braes 
of  Angus.  With  an  army  fifteen  hundred  strong  he 
resolved  to  attack  Aberdeen.  By  repeated  onslaughts 
and  continual  harassment  that  ill-fated  town  had 
been  subdued  to  the  cause  of  the  Covenant,  those 
citizens  whose  stubborn  spirits  would  not  conform 
finding  a  home  elsewhere.  It  was  sometimes,  as  a 
place  of  questionable  fidelity,  garrisoned  by  large 
bodies  of  the  Covenanting  forces.  At  this  juncture 
it  was  but  slightly  protected.  The  cause,  however, 
mustered  nearly  three  thousand  men,  a  great  portion 
of  them  from  the  south  of  Scotland. 

Montrose  avoided  the  difiiculty  of  the  Bridge  of 
Dee  by  crossing  the  river  ten  miles  higher  up.  He 
met  the  Covenanting  army  to  the  westward  of  the 
city,  between  "the  Craibstane  and  the  Justice  Mills." 
They  fought  for  two  hours,  and  then  the  Covenanting 
army  fled.  "  There  was  little  slaughter,"  says  an  eye- 
witness, "  in  the  fight ;  but  horrible  was  the  slaughter 
in  the  flight — fleeing  back  to  the  town,  which  was  our 
townsmen's  destruction.  Whereas  if  they  jhad  fled 
and  not  come  near  the  town,  they  might  have  been 
in  better  security."  "  The  lieutenant  follows  the 
chase  to  Aberdeen,  his  men  hewing  and  cutting  down 
aU  manner  of  men  they  could    overtake  within  the 


1 88  CHARLES    I. 

toMm,  upon  the  streets,  or  in  their  lionses,  and  round 
about  the  town,  as  our  men  was  fleeing — but  mercy 
or  remeid.  Tliese  cruel  Irishes,  seeing  a  man  well 
clad,  would  first  tyr  [strip]  him  and  save  the  clothes 
unspoiled,  then  kill  the  man."'^ 

Of  the  scenes  occurring  when  towns  are  at  .the 
mercy  of  lawless  captors,  history  sometimes  affords 
accounts  too  grandiloquent  for  distinctness ;  and  one 
may  have  a  better  notion  of  the  reality  from  the  im- 
pression made  on  the  town-clerk  in  his  walks  abroad  : 
"  The  men  that  they  killed  they  would  not  suffer  to 
be  buried,  but  tirred  them  of  their  clothes,  syne  left 
their  naked  bodies  lying  upon  the  ground.  The  wife 
durst  not  cry  nor  weep  at  her  husband's  slaughter 
before  her  eyes,  nor  the  mother  for  the  son,  nor 
daughter  for  the  father — which  if  they  were  heard, 
then  they  were  presently  slain  also."  The  town  was 
taken  on  Friday  the  13th  of  September,  and  next  day 
Montrose  marched  westward  with  his  force,  "  except 
such  Irishes  as  were  plundering  the  town  and  killing 
our  men  wdiich  went  not  with  them."  ^  This  was  an 
instance  of  the  spirit  which  made  it  a  scandal  in  that 
age  to  employ  such  instruments  in  warfare.  This  was 
the  third  visit  paid  by  Montrose  to  Aberdeen.  In  the 
two  former  he  had  chastised  the  community  until  he 
brought  them  into  conformity  with  the  Covenant,  and 
now  he  made  compensation  by  chastising  them  for 
having  yielded  to  his  inflictions. 

He  wandered  through  the  Gordon  country  only  to 
experience  a  mortifying  illustration  of  the  character 
of  Highland  politics.  All  his  efforts  to  communicate 
with  the  head  of  the  house  were  bafl^led.     Whether  it 

'  Spalding's  Memorials,  ii.  407.  =  Ibid.,  407,  408. 


Montrose's  campaign,  1644-45.  189 

was  that  Huntly  would  not  co-operate  with  the  man 
who  had  betrayed  him,  or  that,  as  some  said,  he  had 
hidden  himself  from  his  enemies  so  effectively  that 
even  his  friends  could  not  find  him,  Montrose  never 
got  the  use  of  his  name  for  raising  his  people,  and 
therefore  appealed  to  their  sense  of  loyalty  in  vain. 
So  nimbly,  indeed,  did  they  evade  the  messengers 
sent  among  them,  that  the  country  appeared  empty 
of  men. 

The  point  of  wonder  in  Montrose's  operations 
henceforth  is  the  apt  use  he  made  of  the  peculiar 
qualities  of  his  force  in  rapid  movements  from  place 
to  place.  For  some  time  in  the  north  he  and  Argyle 
were  close  to  each  other,  and  their  contest  was  like 
that  of  the  hawk  and  the  heron  —  Montrose  never 
permitted  the  two  to  come  so  close  together  as  to 
touch  each  other  unless  when  he  was  prepared  to 
wound.  In  winter  Argyle  retired  to  his  own  castle 
at  Inverary.  It  was  a  current  belief  that  the  passes 
into  the  Argyle  country,  difficult  in  summer,  were 
utterly  impracticable  in  winter.  They  Avere  therefore 
carelessly  protected,  and  the  lord  of  the  domain  was 
abiding  in  indolent  security  in  his  castle.  Montrose's 
stanch  follower,  Macdonald  of  Kolkitto,  had  been 
absent  raising  men  in  the  far  north-west,  and  had 
returned  with  a  large  reinforcement.  Thus  strength- 
ened, Montrose  resolved  to  try  the  metal  of  his  High- 
landers by  a  winter  raid  in  the  territories  of  the 
dreaded  MacCallum  Mohr.  He  was  so  expeditious 
and  silent  that  he  all  but  caught  his  great  enemy  in 
his  lair.  Argyle  escaped  by  sea.  From  December 
1644  to  February  16 4 .5  the  poor  people  of  his  country 
were  scourged  and  harassed  by  relentless  marauders. 


igo  CHARLES    I. 

Then  these  returned  again  home  with  their  booty,  and 
Montrose's  policy  became  that  of  the  fugitive. 

Argyle  was  gathering  forces  at  Inverlochy,  under 
the  shadow  of  Ben  Nevis,  in  the  north-west  corner  of 
his  territory.  From  another  side  the  Lord  Seaforth 
threatened  j\Iontrose  with  a  large  body  of  the  Cove- 
nanters of  the  far  north.  The  exigency  was  one  to  try 
the  resources  of  a  military  genius,  and  it  was  duly 
met.  He  carried  his  small  army,  winter  as  it  was,  over 
those  terrible  mountains,  where  travellers  sometimes 
die  of  cold  in  summer,  and  pounced  on  Argyle,  abiding 
in  security  on  the  level  banks  of  Loch  Linnhe.  The 
surprise  was  complete;  and  Argyle's  people,  after  an 
ineffective  resistance,  fled  to  the  hills.  Argyle  himself 
has  been  bitterly  reproached  for  betaking  himself  to 
his  galley  instead  of  remaining  at  the  head  of  his 
people.  The  act  was  stigmatised  as  cowardice.  In 
truth,  however,  a  man  in  Argyle's  position  had  heavy 
difficulties  to  contend  with.  He  had  great  ability, 
and  much  of  this  ability  was  shown  in  controlling 
men ;  but  it  was  in  civil  policy,  not  in  war.  He  was 
not  naturally  a  soldier  ;  yet  in  that  day  there  was  no 
transferring  the  military  command  of  a  clan — nature 
had  pointed  out  the  leader,  and  no  other  could  supply 
his  place.  His  political  conduct  was  not  that  of  a 
coward,  and  his  death  was  heroic.^ 

After  having  kept  his  small  army  alive  and  out  of 
sight  in  the  northern  Highlands  for  some  weeks,  we 

1  Baillie,  when  telling  how  he  threw  his  lot  in  with  the  Covenant 
party  at  the  Assembly  of  1638,  when  the  step  was  dangerous,  says  :  "  It 
has  been  the  equity  of  our  cause  which  has  been  the  only  motive  to 
make  that  man,  in  that  necessar  time,  to  the  extreme  hazard  of  his 
head  and  all  he  possesses,  to  encourage  us  openly  by  his  assistance." — 
Letters,  i.  1 46. 


Montrose's  campaign,  1645.  191 

find  Montrose,  in  the  beginning  of  April,  pouncing 
suddenly  on  the  town  of  Dundee.  The  outline  of  the 
doings  of  his  little  savage  army  there  makes  it  not 
uncharitable  to  suspect,  that  had  a  minute  chronicler 
like  Spalding  been  present,  he  might  have  given  even 
a  drearier  picture  of  pillage  and  cruelty  than  the  sack 
of  Aberdeen.  The  stay,  however,  here  was  brief. 
The  Committee  of  Estates  had  thought  it  necessary  to 
bring  over  General  William  Baillie  to  oppose  Montrose's 
career.  It  will  be  observed  that  as  yet  he  had  not  been 
face  to  face  with  any  commander  who  was  a  trained 
soldier.  A  small  detachment  of  rank  and  file  seems 
to  have  been  at  the  same  time  sent  from  the  army  in 
England,  for  we  have  frequent  reference  to  a  thousand 
trained  soldiers  belonging  to  the  army  of  the  Cove- 
nant. By  the  presence  of  these  and  of  Baillie,  and 
another  old  soldier,  John  Hurry  or  Urry,  Montrose's 
nimble  motions  were  guided.  They  were  at  the  same 
time  infiuenced  by  the  fluctuations  in  his  own  army. 
When  he  had  three  thousand  men  in  hand,  he  could 
haunt  the  Covenanting  forces  in  the  low  country ; 
but  when  he  had  only  a  third  of  that  number,  he  had 
to  keep  the  mountains,  where  he  was  inaccessible. 
He  was  at  one  time  joined  by  a  body  of  the  Gordons  ; 
but  they  disappeared  suddenly  one  day,  and  neither 
the  commander  nor  any  other  person  could  discover 
why  they  deserted.  In  May  he  found  himself  in 
Morayland  with  three  thousand  men,  in  face  of  Urry, 
who  had  with  him  the  best  troops  of  the  Covenanting 
army.  Montrose's  policy  was  the  defensive  ;  and  he 
made  a  small  fortified  camp  of  the  village  of  Auldearn, 
in  the  county  of  Nairn.  Here  on  the  9th  of  May  he 
was  vigorously  attacked  by  Urry,  who  threatened  to 


192  CHARLES    I. 

force  his  left,  where  Kolkitto  commanded.  Some 
mistake  made  by  a  subordinate  commander  on  Urry's 
side  tempted  Montrose  to  try  the  aggressive.  He 
ordered  his  wliole  force  to  throw  themselves  on  the 
enemy,  and  again  the  Highland  rush  was  effective  in 
scattering  them.^  Urry  cai-ried  his  l^roken  forces  to 
join  Baillie,  and  both  ascended  the  valley  of  the  Don 
in  Aberdeenshire,  where  Montrose  appeared  to  be  re- 
treating before  them.  He  ascertained,  however,  that 
though  the  two  experienced  generals  were  in  the 
army,  the  thousand  trained  troops  were  elsewhere, 
under  the  command  of  the  Lord  Lindsay.  He  took 
up  a  strong  position  near  the  village  of  Alford.  It 
was  a  low  hill  westward  of  the  village,  forming  a 
ridge  running  east  and  west,  and  rising  towards  the 
west,  where  it  has  a  full  view  of  the  surrounding 
country.  The  ground  whence  it  rises  is  now  well 
cultivated,  but  it  was  then  a  marsh  or  bog.  The 
Covenanter  generals  believed  that  he  was  avoiding 
battle,  and  had  the  temerity  to  cross  the  river  to 
attack  him.  The  two  armies  were  about  equal  in 
foot,  neither  having  more  than  two  thousand ;  but 
the  Covenanters  had  a  considerable  superiority  in 
horse.  The  fight  was  an  obstinate  one,  but  in  the 
end  the  Covenanters  were  again  beaten.     Montrose's 

^  Spalding  says  ;  "  This  overthrow  was  attribute  to  ane  Orowner  or 
Major  Drummond,  who  wheeled  ahout  unskilfully  through  his  own  foot, 
and  brake  their  ranks,  whereby  they  were  all  slain  by  the  enemy ;  and 
for  the  whilk,  by  council  of  war  holden  thereafter  at  Inverness,  he  was 
shot,  standing  on  his  feet,  but  not  at  ane  post.  There  was  reckoned  to 
be  slain  here  at  this  bloody  battle  above  two  thousand  men  to  Hurry, 
and  some  twenty-four  gentlemen  hurt  to  Montrose,  and  some  few  Irish 
killed — which  is  miraculous,  and  only  foughten  with  God's  own  finger, 
as  would  appear, — so  many  to  be  murdered  and  cut  down  upon  the 
ane  side,  and  so  few  on  the  other."— Memorials,  ii.  474. 


Montrose's  campaign,  1645.  193 

name  was  now  to  the  Covenanters  an  object  of  terror 
and  exasperation.  There  was  a  general  feeling  that 
the  faithful  must  rise  throughout  the  land  and  sup- 
press him.  In  Fifeshire^an  early  stronghold  of  the 
Covenanters — the  old  spirit  was  rekindled,  and  burned 
vehemently.  One  army  was  fast  gathering  there,  and 
another  among  the  western  Whigs,  where  the  Covenant- 
ing spirit  was  of  more  recent  planting,  but  had  been 
of  rapid  and  powerful  growth.  It  was  now  the  policy 
of  Montrose  to  strike  a  decided  blow  at  the  existing 
army  before  it  was  enlarged  by  the  new-comers.  He 
was  in  a  fitter  condition  for  such  a  feat  than  he  ever 
had  been  before,  since  the  fame  of  his  two  victories 
in  the  northern  Lowlands  had  penetrated  far  through 
the  mountains,  and  brought  him  reinforcements  from 
the  distant  clans  of  the  west  of  Inverness-shire  and 
Ross-shire. 

The  movements  of  the  two  forces  had  now  shifted 
the  theatre  of  war  to  the  south  side  of  the  Forth, 
nearly  two  hundred  miles  from  the  scenes  of  the  late 
battles.  Montrose  kept  within  the  range  of  the 
Campsie  Hills,  where  he  could  at  any  time  secure 
himself.  Baillie,  his  antagonist,  had  the  larger  force 
— six  thousand  in  all,  including  the  valued  thousand 
who  had  been  thoroughly  trained  to  arms.  Whether 
it  was  owing  to  Baillie's  own  imprudence,  or  to  the 
conceited  obstinacy  of  the  Committee  of  Estates, 
who  controlled  him,  the  mistake  was  again  made  of 
supposing  that  Montrose  shunned  a  battle.  For  the 
purpose  of  finishing  the  war  before  the  enemy  was 
reinforced,  he  courted  a  meeting,  provided  it  were  at 
his  own  time  and  place.  The  valley  behind  the  small 
town  of  Kilsyth,  where  he  waited  for  his  enemy,  is 

VOL.  VII.  N 


194  CHARLES    I. 

now  a  small  lake  or  reservoir  for  supplying  water  to 
works  close  l)y.  But  enough  of  it  is  visible  to  sliow 
that  it  was  excellent  ground  for  Highland  warfare. 
The  battle  l^egan  with  some  legitimate  fighting,  in 
which  the  Ogilvies  and  other  Lowland  Cavaliers  took 
part.  But  the  Highland  onset  was  again  tried  at  the 
rio-ht  time.  The  human  torrent  rushed  down  the  brae 
with  a  wild  roar  or  yell,  and  carried  all  before  it.  As 
at  Tippermuir,  there  was  a  long  and  bloody  pursuit. 
The  slaughter  was  far  beyond  any  usual  proportion  to 
the  number  engaged.  It  was  a  boast,  indeed,  of  the 
Cavaliers,  that  not  one  unmounted  Covenanter  escaped 
alive.  The  defeated  general  maintained  that  he  was 
not  responsible  for  the  calamity,  that  the  Committee 
of  Estates  had  interfered  so  with  his  functions  as 
a  military  commander,  that  he  resolved  to  let  them 
command  in  reality,  abiding  in  his  place  only  that  he 
might  do  his  best  under  them  to  save  the  army  from 
destruction  at  a  juncture  when  "the  loss  of  the  day 
would  be  the  loss  of  the  kingdom."^ 

It  now  appeared  as  if  Scotland  were  regained  for 
King  Charles.  The  prisons  were  emptied  of  the 
Cavaliers  confined  in  them,  and  everywhere  the  Royal- 
ists ruled  the  day.     Montrose  and  his  assistants  have 

'  Baillie's  Letters,  ii.  421.  Argyle,  a  bad  soldier,  appears  to  have 
dictated  in  name  of  the  committee  :  "  My  lord  marquis  asked  me  "what 
was  next  to  be  done.  I  answered  the  direction  should  come  from  his 
lordship  and  those  of  the  committee.  My  lord  demanded  what  reason 
was  for  that.  I  answered  I  found  myself  so  slighted  in  everything  be- 
longing to  ane  commander-in-chief,  that  for  the  short  time  I  was  to  stay 
with  them  I  should  absolutely  submit  to  their  direction  and  follow  it." 
So  far  as  the  loss  of  the  battle  was  caused  by  mismanagement,  he  attri- 
buted it  to  "  our  removing  from  that  gTound  whereon  we  stood  first  em- 
battled, being  so  near  an  enemy  who  had  sundry  advantages  of  us." — 
Ibid.,  420-23. 


Montrose's  campaign,  1645.  195 

been  praised  for  their  moderation  in  not  exhausting 
the  proper  harvest  of  victory  and  subjugation.  But 
they  were  on  a  perilous  elevation.  All  the  strong 
places  were  still  in  the  hands  of  their  enemies.  The 
Covenanters  had  lent  to  England,  and  might  recall,  an 
army  worth  six  times  as  much  as  any  one  which  Mon- 
trose had  defeated.  He  had  only  shown,  what  might 
have  been  presumed,  that  Highlanders  trained  to 
fighting,  though  in  a  bad  school,  made  better  fighters 
than  Lowlanders  not  trained  to  war  at  all.  He  had 
the  merit  certainly  of  bringing  into  effect  this  peculiar 
force,  hidden  until  his  day ;  but  he  had  not  yet 
measured  swords  with  a  professional  soldier  at  the 
head  of  eff'ective  troops. 

To  give  full  effect  to  Montrose's  military  strength, 
he  received  that  title  of  Viceroy  which  had  been 
given  to  Prince  Rupert,  and  stood  nominally  in  the 
position  of  absolute  ruler  of  Scotland.  The  danger 
that  all  might  be  overturned  lay  in  the  south,  and 
unconsciously  he  went  to  meet  it.  He  was  very  de- 
sirous to  recruit  his  army  from  the  Borders,  and  to 
obtain  from  that  country  some  serviceable  horses.  To 
this  end,  and  that  he  might  be  near  the  friends  of  the 
cause  in  England,  Avhom  he  was  to  aid  when  Scotland 
was  all  settled,  he  moved  southwards.  This  was  not 
acceptable  to  the  Highlanders,  who  had  ever  a  reluc- 
tance to  trust  themselves  far  from  the  protection  of 
their  own  mountains.  It  was  natural  to  them  to 
return  with  their  booty  after  a  victory,  especially  if 
there  was  no  immediate  prospect  of  more  fighting. 
They  therefore  went  off  in  considerable  bands. 

The  Scots  army  was  before  Hereford  when  a  press- 
ing demand  for  their  assistance  at  home  reached  them 


196  CHARLES    I. 

from  the  Committee  of  Estates.  The  detachment  sent 
was  entirely  cavalry,  for  the  sake  of  expedition.  They 
were  commanded  by  David  Leslie.  They  entered 
Scotland  at  Berwick,  where  the  Committee  of  Estates 
and  other  eminent  political  persons  were  living 
as  refugees  from  Edinburgh,  where  the  plague  then 
was  rife.  Thus  Leslie  got  the  best  information  as  to 
the  condition  of  the  country  and  the  steps  he  was  ex- 
pected to  take.  He  moved  northward  until  he  reached 
Gladsmuir,  near  Prestonj)ans.  He  expected  here  to 
find  and  fight  his  enemy ;  and  this  is  not  the  only 
occasion  in  history  in  which  we  may  find  a  battle 
expected  as  likely  to  occur  on  a  spot  where  a  battle 
does  occur  in  a  later  chapter  of  history.  There  seem 
to  be  certain  physical  conditions  which  practical  men 
recognise  as  the  spots  where  opposing  armies  are  likely 
by  the  force  of  events  to  meet  in  battle.  Here  he 
learned  that  Montrose  was  still  on  the  Border,  and  he 
resolved  to  wheel  round  and  fall  on  him  by  surprise. 

On  the  night  of  the  12th  of  September  1645,  Mon- 
trose set  his  headquarters  in  the  town  of  Selkirk, 
while  his  attenuated  army  was  encamped  on  Philip- 
haugh,  about  two  miles  to  the  westward.  As  the 
name  haugh  imports,  the  spot  was  a  diluvial  flat  plain 
on  the  side  of  a  river ;  the  river  was  the  Ettrick,  and 
the  place  a  little  above  its  junction  with  the  Tweed. 
There  was  a  wood  close  by  called  the  Harwood,  which 
was  said  to  protect  the  army  from  any  surprise  from 
the  west.  But  in  truth  no  precautions  were  taken 
against  a  surprise.  That  was  a  contingency  deemed 
beyond  the  range  of  possibilities,  otherwise  Montrose 
could  never  have  placed  Highland  troops  on  a  fiat 
plain,  knowing,  as  he  must  have  known,  how  eminently 


Montrose's  campaign,  1645.  197 

their  method  of  fighting  demands  the  command  of  the 
ground.  There  was  abundant  mountain  ground  hard 
by,  and  the  selection  must  have  been  made  for  ease 
and  convenience,  not  for  defence.^  So  imperfect  was 
Montrose's  organisation  of  scouts,  or  so  perfect  Leslie's 
organisation  for  intercepting  them,  that  he  was  that 
night  posted  within  six  miles  of  the  doomed  army. 
Montrose  was  writing  despatches  to  the  king  through 
the  night  and  into  the  morning,  when  he  heard  firing. 
He  galloped  to  his  army  in  time  to  order  a  despairing 
resistance.  Mist  favoured  the  assailants  ;  and  Avhile  a 
large  body  of  horse  charged  from  the  Selkirk  side,  an- 
other band  wound  round  by  the  spurs  of  the  hills  to 
attack  the  enemy  from  the  west.  All  that  Montrose's 
generalship  could  achieve  was  to  retreat  with  a  small 
portion  of  his  force.  It  has  been  indignantly  charged 
against  the  victors,  that  they  put  all  their  prisoners  to 
death.  The  charge  is  likely  to  be  true ;  for  they  were 
either  Highland  or  Irish,  and  it  was  the  custom  so 
to  treat  the  descendants  of  the  old  Scottish  race,  on 
whichever  side  of  the  Channel  they  resided. 

Montrose  made  arduous  efforts  to  reconstruct  his 
army,  but  in  vain.  It  had  consisted  of  a  class  who 
eminently  require  success  to  keep  them  in  a  fitting 
state  of  ardour  for  the  field.  He  had  to  abandon  all 
his  efforts  and  leave  the  country,  when  the  king  put 
himself  into  the  hands  of  the  Covenanters.  Such  was 
the  career  of  IMontrose,  covering  a  yeav  and  twelve 
days.  Of  him  it  cannot  be  said  that  he  suffered  from 
oblivion,   like    the  heroes  before  Agamemnon.      Per- 

1  A  small  obelisk  marks  the  centre  of  the  field.  It  contains  the 
following  inscription,  curious  as  a  piece  of  peculiar  literature  :  "  To  the 
memory  of  the  Covenanters  who  fought  and  fell  on  the  field  of  Philip- 
haugh,  and  won  the  battle  there,  a.d.  September  13,  1645." 


198  CHARLES    I. 

haps  no  military  career  has  ever  had  a  literary  com- 
memoration so  disproportioned  to  its  length  and  fruit- 
fulness.  The  successive  tributes  to  liis  memory  were 
begun  by  his  chaplain  Wishart,  who  told  his  career  in 
Latin  for  the  benefit  of  the  learned  world,  while  it  was 
translated  into  the  vernacular  for  home  use.  It  was 
his  fortune  or  his  fate  that  his  memory,  as  a  chivalrous 
hero,  was  the  object  of  devotion  to  a  party;  and  the 
commander,  who  was  defeated  on  the  only  occasion 
when  he  met  face  to  face  with  another  commander  of 
repute,  had  to  be  maintained  as  high  up  in  the  temple 
of  fame  as  the  greatest  warriors  in  the  world's  history. 
For  the  literature  devoted  to  such  causes  there  are 
many  allowances  to  be  made ;  and  the  sj)irit  that  per- 
vades it  will  meet  a  kindly  appreciation  by  all  who 
peruse  the  latest  tributes  heaped  on  the  memory  of 
Montrose  by  one  allied  to  him  in  blood,  and  himself  a 
chivalrous  member  of  a  chivalrous  house.  The  secret 
of  the  interest  we  all  take  in  such  literature,  whether 
it  is  on  our  own  side  or  not,  is  something  akin  to 
that  which  we  take  in  the  warm  unselfish  attachments 
where,  right  or  wrong,  the  man  stands  by  his  friend. 


CHAPTER    LXXIV. 
CijarUs  E 

WESTMINSTER  ASSEMBLY  OF  DIVINES CONSTITUTION — RESPONSI- 
BILITY TO  PARLIAMENT ELEMENTS  OF  OPPOSITION  AND  DIS- 
PUTE— POLICY     OF     INSTITUTING    THE    ASSEMBLY OCCUPATION 

FOR  THE    CLERGY BAILLIE's  PICTURE   OF  THE   OPENING FUNC- 
TION   OF  THE    scots    COMMISSIONERS THEIR    INFLUENCE THE 

PASSING    OF    THE     COVENANT THE    BROWNISTS    AND     INDEPEN- 
DENTS  PARLIAMENT   AND    THE    DIVINE    RIGHT    OF    PRESBYTERY 

RIGHT    OF    DISCIPLINE THE    DIRECTORY    OF    WORSHIP THE 

VERSION      OF     THE     PSALMS ADOPTION     IN     SCOTLAND  THE 

CONFESSION     OF      FAITH THE      CATECHISMS CONTEMPORARY 

AFFAIRS     IN    SCOTLAND EXECUTION     OF    HADDO    AND     SPOTTIS- 

WOOD THE     SCOTS     ARMY     IN    ENGLAND THE     KING    JOINS     IT 

CONTROVERSY    WITH    HENDERSON THE    KING    GIVEN    UP    TO 

THE     PARLIAMENTARY     PARTY THE     TREATY     OF     NEWPORT 

THE     ENGAGEMENT HAMILTON'S      MARCH     TO      PRESTON HIS 

DEFEAT — THE     MAUCHLINE    TESTIMONY THE   WHIGAMORES 

CROMWELL'S    ARRANGEMENT    WITH    ARGYLE    AND    THE     ESTATES 

THE     ACT     OF      CLASSES  —  EXECUTION      OF     THE     KING,     AND 

PROCLAMATION     OF    CHARLES    II. 

CoNTEMPOEANEOUSLY  with  these  stirring  events,  much 
interest  was  felt  in  Scothmcl  in  the  deliberations  of  a 
community  of  grave  and  reverend  persons  assembled 
in  England.  The  sayings  and  doings  of  the  Assembly 
of  Divines  at  Westminster  deserve  a  fuller  and  closer 
history  than  they  have  yet  obtained.  There  is  no  in- 
tention of  supplying  the  deficiency  here,  since  that 


200  CHARLES    I. 

institution  belongs  to  the  whole  empire,  or  if  it  is  to 
be  told  in  connection  with  a  part  of  it,  it  belongs  to 
England.^  Some  reference  to  its  influence,  however, 
belongs  to  Scotland  ;  for  this  influence  existed  long 
after  its  laws  and  institutions  had  ceased  to  be  an 
element  in  the  constitution  of  Church  and  State  in 
England.  Indeed,  what  the  "Westminster  Assembly 
enjoined  is  still  matter  of  living  practice  and  discus- 
sion through  all  but  a  small  portion  of  ecclesiastical 
Scotland. 

The  Assembly  was  constituted  by  an  ordinance  of 
the  Lords  and  Commons  of  England  on  the  12th  of 
June  1643.  Finding  the  existing  Church  government 
by  bishops  and  other  gxacles  to  be  pernicious,  it  is  re- 
solved "  that  the  same  shall  be  taken  away,  and  that 

'  "We  have  two  books,  each  containing,  at  considerable  length,  a  nar- 
rative of  some  of  the  debates  and  transactions  of  the  Assembly  during 
a  portion  of  their  long  session.  The  one  is,  '  Notes  of  the  Debates  and 
Proceedings  of  the  Assembly  of  Divines  and  other  Commissioners  at 
Westminster,'  by  George  Gillespie,  a  celebrated  minister,  often  referred 
to  in  our  narrative.  To  those  not  practically  engaged  in  polemics  or 
Biblical  criticism,  this  is  the  driest  of  all  reading.  It  condenses,  and 
with  considerable  skill,  the  purport  of  long  wordy  debates,  giving  their 
very  essence  in  hard  criticism  on  the  Scriptures  in  the  original  Greek 
and  Hebrew,  as  lending  support  to  either  side  in  the  controversies  about 
articles  of  belief  and  of  Church  government.  The  whole  is  here  and 
there  illuminated  by  a  meteoric  contribution  from  the  brilliant  scholar- 
ship of  Selden.  It  was  printed  from  the  original  manuscript  in  1846,  as 
part  of  a  collection  called  '  The  Presbyterian's  Armoury.' 

The  other  book  is  the  '  Journal  of  the  Assemljly  of  Divines,'  by  Dr 
John  Lightfoot.  It  makes  the  thirteenth  and  last  volume  of  the  edition 
of  his  Tvorks  printed  in  1822-25.  This  affords  us  a  closer  view  of  the  in- 
cidents of  the  debate  and  the  individuality  of  the  speakers  than  the 
other.     Thus  : — 

"  Then  fell  we  upon  another  point  or  clause — viz.,  '  It  belongeth  to 
the  pastor's  office  to  pray  with  and  for  his  people.' 

"  Here  Mr  Herrick  urged  that  it  should  be  expressed,  '  That  it  is  the 
pastor's  office  also  to  curse  upon  occasion  ;'  but  this  was  waived  for  the 
l)resent." — P.  45. 


ASSEMBLY    OF    DIVINES,    1643.  201 

such  a  government  shall  be  settled  in  the  Church  as 
may  be  most  agreeable  to  God's  holy  Word,  and  most 
apt  to  procure  and  preserve  the  peace  of  the  Church  at 
home,  and  nearer  agreement  with  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land, and  other  Eeformed  Churches  abroad.  And  for 
the  better  effecting  hereof,  and  for  the  vindicating  and 
clearing  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England  from 
all  false  calumnies  and  aspersions,  it  is  thought  fit  and 
necessary  to  call  an  Assembly  of  learned,  godly,  and 
judicious  divines,  to  consult  and  advise  of  such  matters 
and  things  touching  the  premises  as  shall  be  proposed 
to  them  by  both  or  either  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament, 
and  to  give  their  advice  and  counsel  therein  to  both  or 
either  of  the  said  Houses,  when  and  as  often  as  they 
shall  be  thereunto  required." 

The  members  of  this  Assembly  w^ere  not  left  to  se- 

So  when  Selden,  as  was  his  wont,  would  upset  a  whole  fabric  of  debate 
by  showing  that  it  proceeded  on  some  ignorance  of  law  or  of  Hebrew  : — 

"  Mr  Selden. — '  By  the  laws  of  England  none  can  ordain  but  only  a 
bishop  with  some  presbyters ' "  (then  a  citation  of  authorities). 

"'And  whereas  our  Covenant  swears  out  the  7-er/imcn  ecclesice,  this  that 
we  have  in  hand  is  not  regimen  ecclesice;  and  we  have  sworn  to  preserve 
the  laws  of  the  kingdom,  of  which  this  is  one.' 

"  This  speech  cost  a  great  deal  of  debate,  and  had  many  answers  given 
it ;  and,  among  other  things,  Mr  Henderson,  and  the  Lord  Mackland 
[Maitland]  after  him,  took  it  to  heart,  and  expressed  their  resentment  of 
it,  that  there  had  been  too  much  boldness  with  the  Covenant."' — P.  121. 

On  the  question  of  the  presence  of  the  people  at  excommunication, 
"  Sir  Archibald  Johnston  gave  this  example,  that  a  murderer  in  Scot- 
land is  by  law  to  be  executed  between  sun  and  sun  in  an  open  market- 
place, coram  populo.  Yet  this  tieth  not  the  people  to  any  interest  in 
his  execution,  nor  tieth  him  so  to  be  present — and  so  is  it  with  this 
case."— P.  139. 

On  29th  January  1644  we  have  a  debate,  "  with  great  heat,"  about  the 
power  of  the  civil  magistrate  in  matters  ecclesiastic,  Gillespie  fighting 
with  Nye,  when  the  Lord  Maitland  stood  up  and  "  related  the  news 
of  the  Scots  now  being  in  the  kingdom  ;  that  they  marched  in  on  that 
day  that  the  public  thanksgiving  was  at  Christ's  Chxrrch,  and  that  on 
AVednesday  last  they  were  within  seven  miles  of  Alnwick."— P.  130. 


202  CHARLES    I. 

lection  through  any  ecclesiastical  organisation.  They 
were  named  by  Parliament.  They  consisted  of  ten 
Peers  and  twenty  members  of  the  Commons  as  lay 
assessors,  and  a  hundred  and  twenty-one  clergymen. 
The  constitution  of  the  body  was  shifted  from  time  to 
time,  according  to  the  rate  of  attendance  and  other  in- 
cidents ;  but  Parliament  never  quitted  a  firm  hold  on 
its  constitution  and  power.  The  Prolocutor  or  presi- 
dent, Dr  Twiss,  was  named  by  Parliament ;  and  when 
difficidties  and  disputes  arose,  they  were  to  be  referred 
to  Parliament.  By  the  same  authority,  certain  com- 
missioners for  Scotland  were  invited  to  attend  the  dis- 
cussions. There  were  from  the  clergy,  Baillie,  Hen- 
derson, Eutherford,  and  Gillespie — all  men  with  gifts 
that  might  make  them  remarkable  in  any  intellectual 
arena.  Robert  Douglas,  the  reputed  grandson  of 
Queen  Mary,  was  named  as  a  fifth,  but  he  never  at- 
tended. For  the  lay  elders  there  was  the  redoubted 
Johnston  of  Warriston,  the  most  able  and  zealous  of  a 
group  of  lay  statesmen — they  were  not  in  all,  perhaps, 
above  three  or  four — who  were  as  thorough  wai'riors  in 
the  ecclesiastical  department  of  the  great  struggle  as  the 
clergy  themselves.  Along  with  him  were  Lord  Cassilis 
and  Lord  Maitland,  in  later  times  more  renowned 
than  illustrious  as  Duke  of  Lauderdale.  There  were 
afterwards  added  Argyle,  Balmerinoch,  and  Loudon, 
with  Robert  Mcldrum  and  George  Winram.  These, 
with  all  others  there  present,  were  under  the  control 
of  the  Parliament.  In  Baillie's  slightly  indignant 
words,  "  Here  no  mortal  man  may  enter  to  see  or 
hear  without  ane  order  in  wryte  from  both  Houses  of 
Parliament ;  "  ^    and  in   acknowledging  a   comforting 

'  Letters,  ii.  107. 


ASSEMBLY    OF    DIVINES,    1643.  203 

assurance  from  ecclesiastical  sympathisers  in  Holland, 
he  says  :  "  As  for  returning  an  answer,  they  have  no 
power  to  write  one  line  to  any  soul  but  as  the  Parlia- 
ment directs,  neither  may  they  importune  the  Parlia- 
ment for  warrants  to  keep  foreign  correspondence."  ^ 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  organising  of  this  As- 
sembly was  a  Avise  act.  It  may  be  cjuestioned  if  ever 
a  large  deliberative  body  acted  with  the  sagacity 
that  predominated  on  this  and  other  occasions  in  the 
Long  Parliament.  The  country  was  all  on  fire  with 
religious  fervour.  The  Parliament  had  grave  and  mo- 
mentous work  before  it,  and  it  was  well,  if  possible, 
that  this  work  should  be  done  without  risk  of  intrusion 
by  the  elements  of  religious  contention.  It  would  be 
wise  to  have  all  this  perilous  matter  cleared  away  and 
removed  into  a  safe  place.  The  invitation  to  the  various 
zealots  virtually  was  :  You  will  be  free  to  open  up  all 
the  outlets  of  talk  and  discussion  ;  nay,  you  shall  exer- 
cise your  powers  in  all  honourable  distinction,  and  with 
every  facility  and  appliance  for  exciting  and  protract- 
ing discussion,  provided  you  take  it  all  to  a  place  apart, 
and  leave  us  unmolested  to  discuss  our  civil  business. 
The  arrangement  was  accomplished  with  a  dexter- 
ous subordination  of  the  ecclesiastical  to  the  civil  au- 
thority. The  hand  of  the  State  was  laid  on  it  all  with 
such  firm  precision,  that  no  movement  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  separate  s]Diritual  power  was  practicable ; 
and  this  was  done  in  a  shape  admitting  no  ground  for 
complaint.  No  power  of  any  existing  institution  was 
usurped.  It  was  a  voluntary  assembling.  None  were 
bound  to  attend  whose  conscience  revolted  at  the 
authority  assumed  by  the  Parliament  —  these  might 

1  Letters,  ii.  186. 


204  CHARLES    I. 

remain  at  home  for  conscience'  sake,  and  some  did  so. 
Still  it  was  safe  to  calculate  on  Churchmen  being 
influenced  by  the  seductive  charms  of  debate.  The 
attraction  would  strengthen  day  by  day  as  the 
wordy  war  went  on,  and  small  scruples  would  be  for- 
o'otten.  So  it  Avas  ;  although  a  few  were  able  to  ab- 
stain,  the  centre  of  debate  aggregated  to  it  enough  of 
the  inflammable  material  to  leave  the  Parliament  in 
safety.  The  members  of  the  Assembly,  indeed,  held 
meeting  after  meeting  with  a  growing  enthusiasm,  the 
reflection  of  which  may  be  found  in  the  picturesc[ue 
opening  scene  from  the  pen  of  our  old  friend  Baillie. 
It  will  be  seen  from  this  description  how  completely 
the  order  of  business  in  the  Assembly  was  modelled 
on  the  forms  of  the  Enoiish  House  of  Commons — a 
system  marvellously  beautiful  and  com];)lete,  and  for 
compelling  a  numerous  assembly  to  act  with  freedom 
and  order,  beyond  all  comparison  the  finest  organi- 
sation that  human  genius  has  accomplished.  The 
description  is  the  more  clear,  that  it  was  made  by 
one  who  had  been  trained  in  another  school,  and 
especially  noticed  the  matters  in  which  the  two 
difli'ered  from  each  other.  He  could  not  but  see  and 
acknowledge  the  merits  of  the  English  system ;  yet 
we  find  him  longing  somewhat  for  the  impetuous 
action  of  his  own  people,  when  he  says :  "  They  follow 
the  way  of  their  Parliament.  Much  of  their  way  is 
good,  and  worthy  of  our  imitation,  only  their  long- 
someness  is  woeful  at  this  time,  when  their  Church 
and  kingdom  lies  under  a  most  lamentable  anarchy 
and  confusion." 

"  The  like  of  this  Assembly  I  did  never  see,  and, 
as  we  hear  say,  the  like  was  never  in  England,  nor 


ASSEMBLY    OF    DIVINES,    1643.  205 

anywhere  is  shortly  like  to  be.  They  did  sit  in 
Henry  the  VII. 's  Chapel,  in  the  place  of  the  convo- 
cation ;  but  since  the  weather  grew  cold,  they  did  go 
to  Jerusalem  Chamber,  a  fair  room  in  the  Abbey  of 
Westminster,  about  the  bounds  of  the  college  forehall, 
but  wider.  At  the  ane  end  nearest  the  door,  and 
both  sides,  are  stages  of  seats  as  in  the  new  Assem- 
bly House  at  Edinburgh;  but  not  so  high,  for  there 
will  be  room  but  for  five  or  six  score.  At  the 
upmost  end  there  is  a  chair  set  on  a  frame,  a  foot 
from  the  earth,  for  the  Mr  Proloqutor,  Dr  Twisse. 
Before  it  on  the  ground  stands  two  chairs  for  the  two 
Mr  Assessors,  Dr  Burgess  and  Mr  Whyte.  Before 
these  two  chairs,  through  the  length  of  the  room, 
stands  a  table,  at  which  sits  the  two  scribes,  Mr 
Byfield  and  Mr  Roborough.  The  house  is  all  well 
hung,  and  has  a  good  fire,  which  is  some  dainties  at 
London.  Foranent  the  table,  upon  the  proloqutor's 
right  hand,  there  are  three  or  four  ranks  of  forms.  On 
the  lowest  we  five  do  sit.  Upon  the  other,  at  our 
backs,  the  members  of  Parliament  deputed  to  the 
Assembly.  On  the  forms  foranent  us,  on  the  pro- 
loqutor's left  hand,  going  from  the  upper  end  of  the 
house  to  the  chimney,  and  at  the  other  end  of  the 
house,  and  backside  of  the  table,  till  it  come  about  to 
our  seats,  are  four  or  five  stages  of  forms,  whereupon 
their  divines  sit  as  they  please,  albeit  commonly  they 
keep  the  same  place.  From  the  chimney  to  the  door 
there  is  no  seats,  but  a  void  for  passage.  The  Lords  of 
Parliament  used  to  sit  on  chairs,  in  that  void,  about 
the  fire.  We  meet  every  day  of  the  week  but  Satur- 
day. We  sit  commonly  from  nine  to  one  or  two 
afternoon.     The  proloqutor  at  the  beginning  and  end 


206  CHARLES    I. 

has  a  short  prayer.  The  man,  as  the  world  knows,  is 
very  learned  in  the  questions  he  has  studied,  and  very 
good,  beloved  of  all,  and  highly  esteemed ;  but  merely 
bookish,  and  not  much,  as  it  seems,  acquaint  wath  con- 
ceived prayer,  and  among  the  unfittest  of  all  the  com- 
pany for  any  action  ;  so  after  the  prayer  he  sits  mute. 
It  was  the  canny  convoyanee  of  these  who  guides 
most  matters  for  their  own  interest  to  plant  such  a 
man  of  purpose  in  the  chair.  The  one  assessor,  our 
good  friend  Mr  Whyte,  has  kept  in  of  the  gout  since 
our  coming ;  the  other,  Dr  Burgess,  a  very  active  and 
sharp  man,  supplies,  so  far  as  is  decent,  the  proloqu- 
tor's  place.  Ordinarily  there  will  be  present  above 
threescore  of  their  divines.  These  are  divided  in  three 
committees,  in  ane  whereof  every  man  is  a  member. 
No  man  is  excluded  who  pleases  to  come  to  any  of 
the  three.  Every  committee,  as  the  Parliament  gives 
order  in  write  to  take  any  purpose  to  consideration, 
takes  a  portion,  and  in  their  afternoon  meeting  pre- 
pares matters  for  the  Assembly,  sets  down  their  mind 
in  distinct  propositions,  backs  their  propositions  wdth 
texts  of  Scripture.  After  the  prayer,  Mr  Byfield  the 
scribe  reads  the  proposition  and  Scriptures,  whereupon 
the  Assembly  debates  in  a  most  grave  and  orderly 
way.  No  man  is  called  up  to  speak  ;  but  who  stands 
up  of  his  own  accord,  he  speaks  so  long  as  he  will 
without  interruption.  If  two  or  three  stand  uj)  at 
once,  then  the  divines  confusedly  call  on  his  name 
whom  they  desire  to  hear  first  :  on  whom  the  loudest 
and  most  voices  call,  he  speaks.  No  man  speaks  to 
any  but  to  the  proloqutor.  They  harangue  long  and 
very  learnedly.  They  study  the  questions  well  before- 
hand, and  prepare  their  speeches  ;  but  withal  the  men 


ASSEMBLY    OF    DIVINES,    1643.  207 

are  exceeding  prompt,  and  well  spoken.     I  do  marvel 
at  the  very  accurate  and  extemporal  replies  that  many 
of  them  usually  do  make.     When  upon  every  propo- 
sition by  itself,  and  on  every  text  of  Scripture  that  is 
brought  to  confirm  it,  every  man  who  will  has  said  his 
whole  mind,  and  the  replies  and  duplies  and  triplies 
are  heard,  then  the  most  part  calls,  'To  the  question.' 
Byfield  the  scribe  rises  from  the  table  and  comes  to 
the   proloqutor's  chair,   who  from   the  scribe's  book 
reads  the  proposition,  and  says,  'As  many  as  are  in 
opinion  that  the  question  is  well  stated  in  the  proposi- 
tion, let  them  say  I.'  When  'I'  is  heard,  he  says,  'As 
many  as  think  otherwise,  say  No.'    If  the  difference  of 
I's  and  No's  be  clear,  as  usually  it  is,  then  the  question 
is  ordered  by  the  scribes,  and  they  go  on  to  debate 
the  first  Scripture  alleged  for  proof  of  the  proposition. 
If  the  sound  of  '  I '  and  '  No  '  be  near  equal,  then  says 
the  proloqutor,  'As  many  as  say  I,  stand  up.'     While 
they   stand,   the   scribe  and   others   number   them  in 
their  mind;  when  they  sit  down,  the  No's  are  bidden, 
and  they  likewise  are  numbered.     This  way  is  clear 
enough,  and  saves  a  great  deal  of  time,  which  we 
spend  in  reading  our  catalogue.     When  a  question  is 
once  ordered,  there  is  no  more  debate  of  that  matter ; 
but  if  a  man  will  vaige,  be  is  quickly  taken  up  by  Mr 
Assessor,  or  many  others,  confusedly  crying,  'Speak  to 
order,  to  order.'    No  man  contradicts  another  expressly 
by  name,  but  most  discreetly  speaks  to  the  proloqu- 
tor, and  at  most  holds  on  the  general — the  reverend 
brother,  who  lately  or  last  spoke,  on  this  hand,  on  that 
side,  above,  or  below."  ^ 

With  the  Scots  the  most  interesting  business  of  this 

1  Letters,  &c.,  ii.  107-109. 


2o8  CHARLES    I. 

Assembly  was  the  Covenant,  and  it  was  among  the 
first  to  claim  attention.  AVe  have  this  account  of  the 
sittino-  ou  the  8th  of  August  1643  : — 

"  The  Parliament  recommended  the  Covenant  to 
the  Assembly  to  take  into  consideration  the  lawful- 
ness of  it.  The  first  article  of  it  held  us  all  the  day, 
for  we  sat  till  within  night.  This  clause  bred  all  the 
doubting,  '  I  will  endeavour  the  preservation  of  the 
true  Reformed  Protestant  religion  in  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  in  doctrine,  discipline,  worship,  and  govern- 
ment, according  to  the  Word  of  God.'  It  was  scrupled 
whether  the  last  words,  '  according  to  the  Word  of 
God,'  were  set  for  limitation — viz.,  to  preserve  it  as  far 
as  it  was  according  to  the  Word, — or  for  approbation 
— viz.,  as  concluding  that  the  Scotch  discipline  was 
undoubtedly  according  to  the  Word.  Therefore,  after 
a  day's  debate  almost,  it  was  resolved  that  this  expla- 
nation should  be  annexed  to  it,  'As  far  as  in  my 
conscience  I  shall  conceive  it  to  be  according  to  the 
Word  of  God.'  This  was  concluded  about  five  o'clock 
afternoon. 

"  Then  fell  we  upon  the  second  article  of  it,  '  That 
without  respect  of  persons,  I  will  endeavour,  accord- 
ing to  my  calling,  to  extirpate  Popery,  prelacy,  heresy, 
schism,'  &c. ;  when  Dr  Burgess,  who  had  been  excep- 
tions of  all  others  all  the  day  against  the  first  article, 
began  again  to  cavil  about  this  clause,  '  Without  re- 
spect of  persons  to  extirpate  Popery ' — it  being  a  very 
nice  business  to  know  what  Popery  is,  and  what  is 
meant  by  extirpation,  and  I  know  not  what — which 
gave  occasion  to  others  to  take  the  same  exceptions, 
and  so  hold  long  debates  ;  and  it  was  very  clear  that 
we  had  parted  and  gone  home  unresolved  of  the  matter, 


ASSEMBLY    OF    DIVINES,    1643.  209 

but  at  last  we  brought  it  to  the  vote  that  the  words 
were  fit  to  stand  as  they  were. 

"  Tuesday,  August  29,  Ave  fell  upon  these  words, 
'  prelacy,  superstition,  heresy,  schism,'  &c.  ;  and  Dr 
Burgess  began  again  to  except  every  one  of  the  words 
as  doubtful — especially  the  word  'prelacy'  was  thought 
by  others  to  be  too  doubtful,  therefore  the  explana- 
tion of  it  was  concluded  on,  '  the  government  by 
archbishops,  bishops,'  &c. ;  and  about  noon,  with  much 
ado  and  great  retarding,  we  had  finished  the  second 
article,  and  the  Assembly  adjourned  till  afternoon. 

"  In  the  afternoon  the  rest  of  the  Covenant  was 
despatched  with  much  ado;  for  Dr  Burgess  continued 
in  his  captiousness,  and  retarded  as  much  as  possibly 
he  could.  In  fine,  it  was  concluded  upon  and  ordered 
that  the  Assembly  should  on  Thursday  morning,  by 
their  prolocutor,  they  attending  him  to  the  House  of 
Commons,  huml^ly  present  their  advice  to  the  Parlia- 
ment, that  in  point  of  conscience  the  Covenant  may 
lawfully  be  taken  Avith  those  explanations  which  are 
foremen tioned."  ^ 

To  the  Scottish  Covenanters  the  calling  of  this 
Assembly,  and  the  adoption  of  the  Solemn  League  and 
Covenant  as  revised  by  it,  were  rapidly  bringing  on 
the  consummation  of  that  great  scheme  of  Divine  Pro- 
vidence destined  to  establish  the  Presbyterian  polity 
over  all  mankind.  The  government  of  the  Church  by 
a  General  Assembly,  Synods,  Presbyteries,  and  Kirk- 
sessions,  was  the  divine  form  of  Church  government, 
and  all  others  must  dissolve  before  it.  Here  had 
been  completed  a  great  step — England  and  Ireland 
had  been  cleansed  of  the  Popish  and  prelatic  rubbish 

1  Journal  of  the  AsseniLly  of  Divines  ;  Lightfoot's  Works,  xiii.  1 1. 
VOL.  VII.  0 


2IO  CHARLES    I. 

left  at  the  Reformation,  and  were  immediately  to  be 
united  to  Scotland  in  one  Presbyterian  community. 
The  English  Presbyterians — a  large  body  with  many 
learned  ministers  among  them — indulged  themselves 
in  the  same  conclusion. 

The  Parliament,  however,  had  other  views,  and 
skilfully  prepared  for  the  consummation.  There 
lurked  at  that  time,  in  the  class  of  men  who  made  the 
Parliament  and  the  influential  circles,  a  disinclination 
to  reconstruct  any  strong  priesthood.  Some  were 
influenced  by  religious  motives,  others  by  political ; 
but  their  general  temper  was,  that  as  the  keys  of  St 
Peter  had  been  thrown  down  in  the  late  scuffle,  they 
were  not  to  be  picked  up  again  by  the  nearest  hand. 
Accordingly  the  personal  structure  of  the  Assembly 
placed  within  it  elements  of  opposition  which  had  an 
appearance  of  impartiality,  but  were  of  course  infinitely 
provoking  to  those  who  demanded  supremacy. 

The  Brownists,  Independents,  or  Congregationalists, 
were  a  large  body  in  England,  and  had  been  growing, 
even  in  Scotland,  too  rapidly  for  the  peace  of  the  Cove- 
nanting party.  Their  principle  was,  that  there  should 
be  no  combined  system  of  Church  government, 
whether  prelatic  or  Presbyterian,  but  that  each  Chris- 
tian congregation  should  be  a  Church  in  itself  It 
was  a  system  that  seemed  to  embody  the  very  ab- 
stract spirit  of  toleration,  by  bringing  the  power  of 
ecclesiastical  tyi'anny  down  to  absolute  zero.  So  it 
seemed  in  Britain,  where  the  Independents  were 
driven  to  the  policy  of  self-defence ;  but  they  became 
very  sufficient  ecclesiastical  tyrants  on  their  own 
ground  in  New  England,  where  they  dutifully  hanged 
every  man  who  wore  a  broad-brimmed  hat,   or  used 


ASSEMBLY    OF    DIVINES,    1644-46.  211 

the  personal  pronoun  in  an  antiquated  fashion.^ 
These  men  were  not  powerful  in  organisation  for 
constructive  purposes,  for  that  was  not  their  mission, 
or  the  tenor  of  the  polity  sought  by  them ;  but  they 
were  very  useful  for  the  purpose  for  which  they  had 
been  placed  in  the  Assembly  —  the  interruption  of 
the  constructive  work  of  others. 

The  Independents  were  but  a  small  party  in  the 
Assembly — it  might  have  given  alarm  to  have  in- 
creased their  number.  They  were  there,  indeed,  just 
as  Episcopalians  and  some  representatives  of  peculiar 
sects  were  there — that  they  might  be  heard  for  their 
respective  causes.  They  were  to  be  tolerated  in 
debate,  as  it  is  said  the  present  House  of  Commons 
will  tolerate  any  speaker  who,  however  offensive  his 
opinions  may  be  to  the  House,  represents  any  con- 
siderable body  of  British  subjects,  or  any  important 
national  interest.  Among  the  Independents,  however, 
were  men  whose  genius  and  zeal  made  them  j)owerful 
in  debate  and  troublesome  in  expedients.  Five  of 
the  most  eminent  of  these — Nye,  Bridge,  Boroughs, 

'  Baillie,  mentioning  an  instance  where  some  preachers  of  false  doc- 
trine in  New  England  narrowly  escaped  death  and  were  sentenced  to 
slavery,  puts  the  difference  aptly  enough  :  "  The  Independents  here, 
finding  they  have  not  the  magistrate  so  obsequious  as  in  New  England, 
turns  their  pens,  as  you  will  see,  &c.,  to  take  from  the  magistrate  all 
power  of  taking  any  coercive  order  with  the  vilest  heretics." — Letters, 
ii.  1 84.  The  case  of  New  England,  however,  was  very  peculiar.  The 
colonists  had  not  only  gone  there  for  freedom  of  conscience,  but  had 
sought  the  wilderness  to  be  free  from  the  contaminating  presence  of 
the  unholy.  When,  therefore,  they  were  intruded  on  there,  and  espe- 
cially by  those  who  did  so  systematically  and  to  give  offence,  this  was 
akin  to  persecution.  The  Quakers,  by  sedulous  cultivation,  had  reached 
a  marvellous  advancement  in  the  art  of  provocation ;  and  when  they 
heard  of  a  place  where  the  heterodox  were  hotly  persecuted,  they  con- 
cluded that  such  was  the  spot  whither  they  were  constrained  to  go  and 
lift  up  their  testimony. 


212  CHARLES    I. 

Goodwin,  and  Sympson — were  ever  spoken  of  as  "  the 
five  dissenting  brethren,"  when  the  Pi-esl)yterians  be- 
wailed the  troubles  tlicy  had  to  endure  in  the  West- 
minster Assembly. 

Another  element  of  interruption  was  carefully 
planted  in  this  Assembly  in  the  body  called  in  Pres- 
byterian language  "  Erastians."  They  belonged  to  a 
wide  range  of  opinions,  the  term  being  applied  to  all 
those  who,  whether  they  desired  to  support  a  Chris- 
tian Church  or  not,  would  not  admit  that  in  its  out- 
ward form  and  government  it  was  a  divine  institution 
endowed  with  powers  independent  of  the  State. 
They  consisted  in  great  measure  of  what  Baillie 
calls  "  worldly  profane  men,  who  were  extremely 
affrighted  to  come  under  the  yoke  of  ecclesiastical 
discipline."  The  working  majority  of  the  English 
Parliament  was  Erastian.  Hence  it  supported  the 
Independent  party,  as  less  mischievous  than  the  Pres- 
byterian. At  the  same  time  it  sent  into  the  Assembly 
a  portion  of  itself — a  small  body,  but  infinitely  pow- 
erful in  intellect.  It  contained  Whitelocke  and  Sir 
Harry  Vane,  but  greatest  of  all,  Selden.  He  knew 
more  of  the  history,  jjractice,  and  law  of  the  Christian 
Church  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  than  all  the  rest 
of  the  Assembly.  He  had  the  power  which  such 
knowledge  confers ;  and  when  precedent  was  appealed 
to,  as  it  could  not  but  be,  and  that  frequently  and 
vehemently,  he  was  absolute  lord  of  the  debate. 

In  the  midst  of  these  opposing  forces  the  Scots 
commissioners  did  their  part  with  great  address. 
The  Assembly  having  been  constructed  entirely  by 
the  English  Parliament,  had  no  authority  in  Scot- 
land.    The  Scots  were  invited  to  sit  as  members  with 


ASSEMBLY    OF    DIVINES,    1644-46.  213 

votes ;  but  this  honour  they  very  wisely  declined — in 
any  vote  taken  they  would  be  only  as  one  to  fifteen. 
They  took  the  position  of  representatives  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland,  and  in  attendance  in  London  was 
a  considerable  committee  from  their  own  Estates  at 
home  to  instruct  and  support  them.  Thus  they  held 
the  position  of  ambassadors  from  one  supreme  power 
to  another.  They  might,  as  representing  Scotland, 
give  up  any  point  to  the  Assembly ;  but  their  country 
could  not  be  compromised  by  the  resolutions  of  that 
body.  There  was  great  ability  in  the  small  group  of 
Scots  commissioners.  "Warriston  could  not  cope  with 
Selden  in  knowledge  about  the  practice  of  the  Jews 
or  the  early  Christian  Church ;  but  he  had  gone 
through  great  practice  as  an  ecclesiastical  lawyer;  and 
as  the  custodier  of  the  records  of  the  Kirk,  he  knew 
things  that  no  general  scholar  had  the  means  of  know- 
ing. Henderson  and  G-illespie  were  men  of  genius  and 
great  eloquence,  Avho  obtained  a  high  celebrity  not 
only  at  home  but  in  England  as  popular  preachers. 
Baillie  was  not  only  a  gTcat  scholar,  but  endowed 
with  a  potent  genius  for  diplomacy.  We  have  seen 
that  he  was  a  thorough  Presbyterian  enthusiast ;  but 
though  he  saw  that  God  was  working  for  the  estab- 
lishment  of  the  Presbyterian  organisation  all  over  the 
world,  he  felt  that  the  policy  and  ability  of  man  was 
one  of  the  instruments  by  which  it  was  foreordained 
that  this  consummation  was  to  be  carried. 

The  Independents  and  many  of  the  "  Sectaries " 
were  with  them  in  points  of  pure  doctrine,  and  there 
was  a  prospect  that  in  the  matter  of  forms  of  worship 
there  might  be  a  reasonable  compromise.  The  great 
point  of  difference  was  Church  government,  and  this 


2  14  CHARLES    I. 

it  was  the  great  object  of  the  Scots  commissioners  to 
defer  until  the  hand  of  Providence  should  improve 
their  position  for  enforcing  that  Presbyterian  organ- 
isation which  was  of  divine  right.  On  the  question 
of  lay  eldership  we  find  Baillie  saying  :  "  This  is  a 
point  of  high  consequence,  and  upon  no  other  we 
expect  so  great  difficulty,  except  alone  on  Indepen- 
dency ;  wherewith  we  purpose  not  to  meddle  in  haste 
till  it  please  God  to  advance  our  army,  which  we 
expect  will  much  assist  our  arguments. "  And  again  : 
"  The  Independents,  being  most  able  men  and  of 
great  credit,  fearing  no  less  than  banishment  from  their 
native  country  if  presbyteries  were  erected,  are  watch- 
ful that  no  conclusion  be  taken  for  their  prejudice. 
It  was  my  advice — which  Mr  Henderson  presently 
applauded  and  gave  me  thanks  for  it — to  eschew  a 
public  rupture  with  the  Independents  till  we  were  more 
able  for  them.  As  yet  a  presbytery  to  these  people  is 
conceived  to  be  a  strange  monster.  It  was  our  good, 
therefore,  to  go  on  hand  in  hand  so  far  as  we  did 
agree  against  the  common  enemy,  hoping  that  in  our 
difi'erences,  when  we  behoved  to  come  to  them,  God 
would  give  us  light.  In  the  mean  time  we  would 
essay  to  agree  upon  the  Directory  of  Worship,  wherein 
we  expected  no  small  help  from  these  men  to  abolish 
the  great  idol  of  England — the  Service-book — and  to 
erect  in  all  the  parts  of  worship  a  full  conformity  to 
Scotland  in  all  things  worthy  to  be  spoken  of."  ^ 

In  any  difference  with  the  English  Presbyterians 
the  Scots  commissioners  were  strong,  and  they  knew 
how  to  use  their  strength.  If  it  Avas  the  Presbyterian 
order  of  Church  government  that  these  English  desired 

1  Letters,  ii.  Ill,  117. 


ASSEMBLY    OF    DIVINES,    1644-46.  215 

really  to  have,  then  in  Scotland  they  would  find  it  in 
all  its  fair  proportions.  There  it  had  long  been  elabo- 
rated and  worked  out — all  objections  sifted,  all  defects 
removed.  It  was  not  as  if  they  came  forward  with 
general  principles  to  be  resolved  into  practical  detail 
by  debate.  No  morsel  of  the  system  could  now  be 
counted  an  open  question.  To  differ  from  any  part 
of  it  was  to  censure  and  attack  their  brethren  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland.  Although  the  English  Presby- 
terians felt  and  admitted  the  strength  of  this  posi- 
tion, it  was  nought  to  the  Independents.  These, 
though  few  in  number,  were  watchful,  and  provok- 
ingly  untiring  in  debate.  The  majority  were  ever 
caught  up  by  them  in  such  manner  as  the  following  : 
"  We  were  next  settling  on  the  manner  of  the  prayer 
— if  it  were  good  to  have  two  prayers  before  sermon, 
as  we  use,  or  but  one,  as  they  use ;  if  in  that  first 
prayer  it  were  mete  to  take  in  the  king,  Church,  and 
sick,  as  they  do,  or  leave  those  to  the  last  prayer,  as 
we.  While  we  were  sweetly  debating  on  these  things 
in  came  Mr  Goodwin,  who  incontinent  essayed  to  turn 
all  upside  down,  to  reason  against  all  directories,  and 
our  very  first  grounds  ;  also,  that  all  prefacing  was 
unlawful."^  And  in  the  midst  of  such  minute  separ- 
ate provocations  the  much-enduring  chronicler  bursts 
occasionally  into  a  loud  general  wail,  such  as  this  :  "In 
this  long  anarchy  the  sectaries  and  heretics  increase 
marvellously.  Yet  we  are  hopeful,  if  God  might  help 
us,  to  have  our  presbyteries  erected  as  we  expect 
shortly  to  have  them,  and  get  the  chief  of  the  Inde- 
pendents to  join  with  us  in  our  practical  conclusions, 
as  we  are  much  labouring  for  it,  and  are  not  yet  out 

1  Baillie's  Letters,  ii.  123. 


2l6  CHARLES    I. 

of  hope — we  trust  to  win  about  all  the  rest  of  this  wild 
and  enormous  people.  However,  for  the  time,  the 
confusions  al)out  religion  are  very  great  and  remedi- 
less." 1 

The  Presyterians  were  desirous  to  have  the  Inde- 
pendents with  them,  but  in  the  end  were  strong 
enough  in  the  Assembly  far  to  outvote  them.  "  Truly," 
says  the  same  chronicler,  "  if  the  cause  were  good, 
the  men  have  plenty  of  learning,  wit,  eloquence,  and, 
above  all,  boldness  and  stiffness,  to  make  it  out ;  but 
when  they  had  wearied  themselves  and  overwearied 
us  all,  we  found  the  most  they  had  to  say  against  the 
presbytery  was  but  curious  idle  niceties ;  yea,  that 
all  they  could  bring  was  no  ways  concluding.  Every 
one  of  their  arguments,  when  it  had  been  pressed  to 
the  full  in  one  whole  session,  and  sometimes  in  two 
or  three,  was  voyced,  and  found  to  be  light  unani- 
mously by  all  but  themselves."  ^ 

No  other  conclusion  could  have  been  anticipated, 
and  it  is  creditable  to  Baillie's  taste  that  it  is  so  cour- 
teously expressed.  Perhajjs,  too,  it  may  be  counted 
creditable  to  the  overwhelming  majority  that  they 
heard  the  minority  so  patiently.  The  victory,  how- 
ever, was  of  little  avail ;  for  adverse  influences  were 
waxing  strong  in  the  power  that  would  control  the 
Assembly.  When  the  first  propositions  went  up 
from  the  Assembly  to  Parliament,  the  Independents 
published  a  renowned  appeal,  called  the  "  Apologetical 
Narration,"  which  helped  mightily  to  increase  the 
growing  disinclination  towards  the  re-establishment 
of  any  organised  Church.  Parliament  had  much  to 
do,  and  kept  the  Assembly  hanging  on  in  expectation 

1  Baillie's  Letters,  ii.  172.  -'  Ibid.,  14.5. 


ASSEMBLY    OF    DIVINES,    1644-46.  217 

of  a  concurrence  in  its  proceedings.  On  the  matter 
of  a  Directory  of  Worship  the  Houses  did  not  trouble 
themselves.  A  formula  of  ordination  was  altered  by 
them ;  but  on  the  indignant  remonstrance  of  the  As- 
sembly the  alterations  Avere  withdrawn.  Parliament 
would  not  quarrel  Avith  the  clergy  on  a  matter  which 
almost  entirely  concerned  themselves.  But  when  an 
organisation  was  sent  up  for  carrying  into  eftect,  by 
discipline  over  the  laity  and  otherwise,  the  divine 
right  of  Presbyterian  Church  government,  it  en- 
countered a  cj^uiet  but  very  obdurate  resistance.  The 
Parliament  did  not  so  much  object  to  the  organisation 
itself,  as  to  the  source  from  which  its  power  was  to 
come,  as  shortly  defined  to  them  in  the  proposition 
that  "  the  Lord  Jesus,  as  King  and  Head  of  His 
Church,  hath  therein  appointed  a  government  in 
the  hand  of  Church  officers  distinct  from  the  civil 
magistrate."  The  Parliament  were  ready  to  concede 
the  greater  part  of  the  organisation  proposed,  pro- 
vided the  two  Houses  took  the  place  of  "  King  and 
Head  of  the  Church,"  so  as  to  be  able  to  alter  the 
organisation  from  time  to  time  if  it  did  not  work  to 
their  satisfaction.  After  much  cavilling  the  two 
Houses  uttered  their  celebrated  "  ordinance  for  settling 
of  Church  government"  of  14th  March  1646.  It 
began  with  pious  invocations  and  devout  thanks  for 
assistance  from  above,  with  a  sanctimonious  prolix- 
ity rarely  exceeded  in  the  utterances  of  professional 
divines.  Coming  to  the  practical  part,  it  began  with 
much  promise  :  "  By  the  merciful  assistance  of  God, 
having  removed  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  with 
all  its  unnecessary  and  burdensome  ceremonies,  and 
established  the  Directory  in  the  room  thereof;  and 


2l8  CHARLES    I. 

having  abolished  the  prelatical  hierarchy  of  archbishops, 
bishops,  and  their  dependants,  and  instead  thereof 
laid  the  foundation  of  a  presbyterial  government  in 
every  congregation,  with  subordination  to  classical, 
provincial,  and  national  assemblies."  So  far  well ;  but 
the  few  words  in  which  the  clause  came  to  an  end 
told  the  Covenanters  that  the  power  so  temptingly 
described  was  not  for  them.  The  words  following  on 
the  subordination  to  three  grades  of  assemblies  were 
simply,  "And  of  them  all  to  the  Parliament."  This 
ordinance,  containing  twenty-three  articles  or  sections, 
completed  a  previous  oi-dinance  for  the  establishment 
of  discipline,  and  especially  for  excluding  persons 
convicted  of  scandalous  crimes  from  ecclesiastical 
privileges.  It  carried  its  offence  on  its  forehead  by 
declaring  its  object  to  be  "the  avoiding,  as  far  as 
possibly  may  be,  all  arbitrary  power  ;  and  that  all 
such  cases  wherein  persons  should  be  suspended  from 
the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  should  be  brought 
to  the  cognisance  and  pass  the  judgment  of  the 
Parliament."  It  was  felt  desirable  to  arrange,  "  with- 
out having  recourse  to  the  Parliament  itself  from  all 
parts  of  the  kingdom,  upon  every  such  emergent  case, 
which  might  prove  troublesome  and  tedious."  Elder- 
ships, therefore,  were  to  be  elected  by  congregations, 
under  the  supervision  of  the  Parliamentary  "  Tryers  of 
Election  of  Elders."  The  scandalous  offences  on  which 
these  elders  should  in  the  first  instance  judge  Avere 
closely  defined  by  Parliament ;  and  it  Avas  provided 
that  "  in  every  province  persons  shall  be  chosen  by 
the  Houses  of  Parliament  that  shall  be  commissioners 
to  judge  of  scandalous  offences  not  enumerated  in 
any  ordinance  of  Parliament."     Over  all  these  was  an 


ASSEMBLY    OF    DIVINES,    1644-46.  219 

ultimate  recourse  to  Parliament,  should  there  be  in- 
sufficiency or  tyranny  in  this  organisation.^  When 
that  mighty  tribunal  thus  undertook  to  manage  the 
parochial  affairs  of  every  parish,  and  to  superintend 
its  kirk-session  work,  the  Presbyterian  party  must 
have  seen,  if  they  did  not  sooner  discover,  that  the 
predominant  party  in  the  two  Houses  were  treating 
them  with  solemn  mockery. 

When  they  broke  forth  into  vehement  remon- 
strances the  Houses  treated  them  Avith  decorum,  and 
were  to  hear  them  at  full  length.  After  a  Parliamen- 
tary fashion,  with  something  of  a  sarcastic  formality, 
certain  queries  were  put  to  them  touching  the  nature 
of  the  Headship  and  the  evidence  or  title-deeds  of  its 
existence.  They  were  such  queries  as  the  Houses 
might  put,  in  an  inquiry  into  the  origin  of  a  fran- 
chise, or  the  charter  and  constitution  of  a  corporation. 
There  were  nine  of  these  queries ;  but  perhaps  the 
three  first  in  order  may  suffice  to  show  their  char- 
acter : — 

"  1.  Whether  the  parochial  and  congregational  or 
presbyterial  elderships  a,vejure  divino,  and  by  the  will 
and  appointment  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  whether  any 
particular  Church  government  be  jure  divino,  and 
what  that  government  is  1 

"  2.  Whether  all  the  members  of  the  said  elderships, 
as  members  thereof,  or  which  of  them,  are  jure  divino, 
and  by  the  will  and  appointment  of  Jesus  Christ  ? 

"  3.  Whether  the  superior  assemblies  or  elderships 
— viz.,  the  classical,  provincial,  and  national — whether 
all  or  any  of  them,  and  which  of  them,  are  jure  divino, 
and  by  the  will  and  appointment  of  Jesus  Christ  1 " 

1  Pari.  Hist,  iii.  443-49. 


220  CHARLES    I. 

That  there  might  be  no  opportunity  for  sweeping 
these  questions  and  their  particuLirities  away  in  vague 
decLamatiou,  the  Houses,  besides  requiring  that  to  each 
answer  the  Scriptural  evidence  should  be  set  forth, 
ordered  that  "every  minister  present  at  the  debate  of 
any  of  these  questions  do,  upon  every  resolution  that 
shall  be  presented  to  the  flouse  concerning  the  same, 
subscribe  his  name,  either  with  the  affirmative  or  nega- 
tive, as  he  gives  his  vote ;  and  that  those  who  dissent 
from  the  major  part  shall  set  down  their  positive 
opinion,  with  the  express  texts  of  Scripture  on  which 
they  are  grounded."^ 

If  the  Houses  expected  a  literal  compliance  with 
these  instructions,  they  were  certainly  rearing  up  a 
portentous  report  for  their  own  perusal  and  consider- 
ation. But  the  order  had  naturally  the  effect  rather 
of  extinguishing  than  promoting  the  organising  la- 
bours of  the  Assembly.  It  was  with  heavy  hearts  that 
those  commissioners  from  the  Scots  Covenanters,  who 
had  seen  so  brilliant  a  dawn  rise  on  the  Westminster 
Assembly,  beheld  and  felt  these  things.  With  all 
their  determined  fatalism,  it  must  ere  this  time  have 
been  growing  clear  to  them  that  they  were  not  des- 
tined to  establish  a  Presbyterian  rule  over  the  British 
dominions.  In  three  years  there  had  come  a  change. 
AVhen  all  England  was  a  great  camp,  and  all  its  men 
becoming  soldiers,  the  Scots  army,  much  diminished, 
was  no  longer  of  vital  moment  in  the  struggle.  The 
Long  Parliament  had  the  divines  of  the  Independent 
party  to  conciliate,  and,  what  was  more  serious,  their 
soldiers,  and  Cromwell,  their  favourite  general.  An 
ephemeral   presbytery  existed  in   London,  and  there 

1  Pari.  Hist,  iii.  463  464. 


DIRECTORY    OF    WORSHIP,    1645-46.  221 

were  some  others ;  but  when  the  Assembly  died  in 
1648,  its  mighty  projects  of  Church  government  died 
with  it. 

In  other  things,  liowever,  it  left  behind  some  fruits 
of  its  labours  which  have  become  both  familiar  and 
dear  to  the  majoi'ity  of  the  Scottish  people.  The 
Directory  of  Worship  was  carried  through  with  much 
hax'mony  before  the  vital  quarrels  began.  We  have 
seen  that  the  old  Prayer-book  of  Scotland  and  Geneva 
— the  Book  of  Common  Order — became  popular  among 
the  early  dissenters  from  the  Church  of  England. 
After  the  lapse  of  seventy  years,  however,  it  seems  to 
have  been  long  foro-otten.  The  feelino-  of  the  Puritans 
and  the  Independents  was  running  strong  against  all 
set  forms  of  prayer.  It  was  now  six  years  since  the 
Service-book  had  been  sent  to  Scotland  to  supersede 
the  Book  of  Common  Order.  The  latest  known  edi- 
tion of  this  book  bears  date  in  1643,  and  it  seems 
likely  that  the  old  affection  for  it  had  died  off  in  the 
hot  contest  against  Laud's  Service-book,  and  the 
growing  sympathy  with  the  English  Puritans.  There 
seems  to  have  been  no  attempt  in  the  Assembly  of 
Divines  to  keep  it  in  existence ;  but  it  was  not  ex- 
pressly condemned,  and  its  use  might  have  easily  been 
accommodated  to  the  injunctions  of  the  Directory.^ 

'  In  the  Britisli  Museum  there  is  a  small  ritual  with  the  title,  'The 
New  Booke  of  Common  Prayer,  according  to  the  Forme  of  the  Kirke  of 
Scotland,  our  Brethren  in  Faith  and  Covenant.  Printed  by  John  Joness, 
1644.'  It  contains  the  greater  part  of  the  ordinary  daily  service  in  the 
Book  of  Common  Order,  and  we  may  conjecture  that  it  was  offered  to 
the  Assembly  as  a  compromise  between  the  Scots  Presbyterian  Prayer- 
book  and  none.  Whether  it  is  to  be  found  elsewhere  or  not,  the  follow- 
in"  passage  from  this  little  book  contains  a  subtle,  but  distinct,  exposi- 
tion of  the  spirit  in  which  translations  of  the  Scriptures  were  accepted 
amonc  many  of  the  various  religious  communities  who  renounced  Epis- 
copacy and  the  Church  of  England  :  "  The  highest  degree  and  most  an- 


222  CHARLES    I. 

Though  the  Book  of  Common  Order  got  strong 
support  when  the  question  lay  between  it  and  Laud's 
Service-book,  it  lost  rather  than  gained  friends  after 
that  contest  passed  over.  The  Assembly  of  Divines 
offered  a  strong  bribe  to  the  Scots  clergy  to  abandon 
it,  since  the  English  Book  of  Common  Prayer — offen- 
sive as  the  foundation  of  the  Service-book — was  to  go 
with  it.  The  enforcement  of  the  Directory  of  Public 
Worship  in  England  and  Ireland  was  more  than  com- 
pensation for  the  loss,  if  it  was  a  loss,  of  the  Scots 
Book  of  Common  Order.  But  to  the  Scots  divines 
the  mortifying  result  of  all  was  that  they  lost  this 
compensation.  Brownism  or  Independency,  with  its 
toleration,  swept  all  away  ;  and  the  Directory  was  no 
more  the  absolute  rule  throughout  the  three  kingdoms 
than  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  was  in  England  and 
the  Book  of  Common  Order  in  Scotland.^ 

nexeJ  to  the  ministry  anfl  government  of  the  Church  is  the  exposition  of 
God's  word  contained  in  the  Okl  and  New  Testament.  But  because  men 
cannot  so  well  profit  in  that  knowledge  except  they  be  first  instructed  in 
the  tongues  and  human  sciences  (for  now  worketh  God  not  commonly  T)y 
miracles),  it  is  necessary  that  seed  be  sowed  for  the  time  to  come,  to  the 
intent  that  the  Church  be  not  left  barren  and  waste  to  our  posterity ;  and 
that  schools  also  be  erected  and  colleges  maintained  with  just  and  suffi- 
cient stipends,  wherein  youth  may  be  trained  in  the  knowledge  and  fear 
of  God,  that  in  their  ripe  age  they  may  prove  worthy  members  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  whether  it  be  to  rule  in  civil  policy  or  to  serve  in  the 
spiritual  ministry,  or  else  to  live  in  godly  reverence  and  subjection."  On 
occasion  when  "  the  minister  prayeth  to  God  for  the  removing  of  some 
present  trouble  or  otherwise,  as  the  present  occasion  doth  require.  This 
done,  the  people  sing  a  psalm  altogether  in  a  tune  which  all  may  under- 
stand, as  it  hath  used  to  be  done  both  in  England  and  Scotland  before 
sermon ;  and  whilst  the  said  psalm  is  singing,  the  minister  goeth  up 
into  the  pulpit,  as  God  shall  move  his  heart,  first  begging  assistance  of 
God's  Holy  Spirit,  and  so  proceedeth  to  the  sermon." 

1  Samuel  Rutherford,  in  his  'Free  Disputation  against  pretended 
Liberty  of  Conscience,'  p.  268,  says:  "  It  rejoiced  the  hearts  of  the  godly 
in  the  three  kingdoms,  when  the  Houses  passed  an  ordinance  for  the 
Directory  of  Public  Worship  to  be  used  in  all  the  three  kingdom.?,  and 


DIRECTORY    OF    WORSHIP,    1645-46.  223 

The  Directory  sets  forth  the  order  of  worship  and 
administration  of  Church  ordinances.  It  gives  the 
tenor  of  tlie  prayers  and  other  administrations  spoken 
by  the  ministers ;  but  it  differs  from  a  ritual  in  so  far 
as  it  gives  the  tenor  only,  not  the  words  to  be  used. 
It  appears  to  have  been  adjusted  chiefly  by  Henderson 
and  his  brethren  in  Scotland,  since  both  in  arrange- 
ment and  phraseology  it  has  a  decidedly  close  resem- 
blance to  a  pamphlet  for  the  purpose  of  spreading 
through  England  information  regarding  the  method 
of  worship  in  the  Church  of  Scotland.^ 

Among  the  rarities  of  collectors  one  may  yet  see  a 
thin  quarto  called  '  A  Directory  for  the  Public  Worship 
of  God  throughout  the  three  Kingdoms  of  England, 
Scotland,  and  Ireland.'  But  the  practical  end  fell 
far  short  of  this  comprehensive  promise.  In  the 
troubles  of  England  the  Directory  was  lost,  and  the 
Restoration  brought  back  the  old  Prayer-book.  It  was 
not  one  of  the  works  of  the  Assembly  destined  even  to 

laid  aside  the  Book  of  Common  Prayers  and  burdensome  ceremonies 
upon  a  resolution  professed  to  the  world,  according  to  the  Covenant,  to 
reform  religion  according  to  the  Word  of  God  and  the  example  of  the 
Lest  Reformed  Churches,  which  was  accordingly  approved  and  ratified 
in  the  Parliament  of  Scotland.  If  we  then  turn  back  again  from  that 
iiniformity,  what  do  we  also  but  pull  down  and  destroy  what  we  have 
builded  ?  Especially  since  uniformity,  which  we  sware  to  endeavour  in 
our  Covenant,  is  cried  down  by  Familists  and  Antinomians,  and  all 
external  worship  and  profession  of  Christ  before  men  as  indifferent,  and 
all  religion  intrenched  into  only  things  of  the  mind  and  heart,  upon  a 
dream  that  the  written  Word  of  God  is  not  our  rule  obliging  us,  but  an 
inward  law  in  the  mind,  beyond  all  ordinances,  must  regulate  us  now 
under  the  Gospel."  These,  as  the  reader  will  easily  see,  are  not  the 
words  of  an  ignorant  man  indulging  hot  fanaticism.  Rutherford  was 
a  learned  divine  ;  and  this  .short  passage — one  of  course  selected  from 
xaanj — may  be  taken  as  a  good  test  of  how  the  learned  among  the  Scots 
Covenanters  took  the  new  rule  that  was  to  prevail  in  England. 

'  This  pamphlet  has  been  already  referred  to.  It  is  called  'The 
Government  and  Order  of  the  Church  of  Scotland.'     Edinburgh,  1641. 


224  CHARLES    I. 

liave  much  influence  iu  Scotland,  where  it  has  been 
and  is  nominally  a  rule.  The  tendency  ever  since 
Laud's  Liturgy  has  been  towards  freedom  from  all 
directorial  control.  So  slightly  has  the  Directory  been 
of  late  either  obeyed  or  known,  that  when,  on  a  recent 
occasion,  a  distinguished  clergyman  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland  was  threatened  with  ecclesiastical  punish- 
ment for  indulging  in  certain  innovations,  it  was  dis- 
covered that  the  departures  from  the  common  practice 
which  incurred  this  condemnation  were  restorations 
of  the  practice  enjoined  by  the  Directory. 

Scotland  owes  to  the  Assembly  of  Divines  the 
psalmody  which  was  sanctioned  by  the  Established 
Church,  and  generally  adopted  by  the  other  Presby- 
terian communities.  The  Psalter  in  the  Book  of 
Common  Order  seems  to  have  consisted  of  such  trans- 
lation of  each  psalm  as  the  publisher  chose.  Always 
the  greater  part,  and  sometimes  the  whole,  were  taken 
from  the  version  of  Sternhold  and  Hopkins.  We  have 
seen  that  the  revision  of  the  Psalm-book  had  occa- 
sionally come  up  in  the  General  Assembly  of  Scotland. 
In  the  Westminster  Assembly  it  arose  in  the  form  of 
findina;  a  version  of  the  Psalms  which  mio;ht  be  certified 
for  use  by  the  Churches  of  England,  Scotland,  and 
L'eland.  The  version  of  Sternhold  and  Hoj)kins  was 
to  be  superseded ;  it  was  perhaps  a  latent  objection 
that  it  occupied  a  place  in  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer.  The  version  attached  to  Laud's  Scottish 
Service-book  would  have  been  drawn  from  a  still 
more  polluted  fountain.^ 

'  This  Psalter  is  called  on  the  title-page  '  The  Psalms  of  King  David 
translated  by  King  James.'  They  were  in  reality  translated  by  the 
poet,  Sir  William  Alexander,  Earl  of  Stirling. 


SCOTTISH    PSALTER,    1646-48.  225 

Two  other  Scottish  versions  claimed  notice.  One 
was  by  Sir  William  Muir  of  Rowallan.^  The  other 
was  by  the  notoiious  Zachary  Boyd.  Zachary's  writ- 
ings have  often  been  cited  as  utterances  of  powerful 
buffoonery  made  when  the  unconscious  author  dreamed 
that  he  was  solemn  and  impressive.  It  was  common 
to  that  age,  especially  among  the  clergy,  to  become 
familiar  and  jocular  with  solemn  things.  Zachary 
went  a  step  beyond  his  brethren  in  this  propensity. 
Hence  all  the  good  things  of  the  kind  have  been 
attributed  to  him,  and  have  sometimes  been  exag- 
gerated to  make  them  fit  on  to  his  reputation.  His 
psalter  was  passed  by,  somewhat  to  his  mortifica- 
tion.^ 

The  Assembly  selected,  as  a  fundamental  draft  of 
a  psalter,  a  translation  recently  made  by  Francis  Rous, 
a  distinguished  member  of  the  Long  Parliament,  and 
a  lay  member  of  the  Assembly.  After  discussion  and 
criticism  at  much  length,  the  divines  passed  the 
Psalter  as  amended  by  them,  and  sent  it  up  for  the 
approval  of  Parliament.  There  was  a  rival  version  by 
William  Barton,  befriended  by  some  members  of  the 
House  ;  and  the  Assembly  received  an  alarming  de- 
mand, "  to  certify  to  this  House  why  these  psalms 
may  not  be  sung  in  church  as  well  as  other  transla- 

1  Sir  William  Muir's  version  does  not  appear  to  have  ever  been 
printed.  Baillie,  writing  from  tlie  Assembly,  says :  "  I  wish  I  had  Row- 
allan's  Psalter  here  ;  for  I  like  it  much  better  than  any  yet  I  have  seen." 
— Letters,  ii.  121.  A  specimen  of  this  version  will  be  found  in  'The 
Historie  and  Descent  of  the  House  of  Rowallan,  by  Sir  William  Miur,' 
note  t,  p.  133. 

^  "  Our  good  friend  Mr  Zachary  Boyd  has  put  himself  to  a  great  deal 
of  pains  and  charges  to  make  a  psalter  ;  but  I  ever  warned  him  his 
hopes  were  groundless  to  get  it  received  in  our  churches  ;  yet  the  flat- 
teries of  his  unadvised  neighbours  makes  him  insist  in  his  fruitless 
design." — Baillie's  Letters,  iii,  3. 

VOL.  VII.  P 


226  CHARLES    I. 

tions  by  such  as  are  willing  to  use  tliem."  The 
divines  in  solemn  conclave  apprehended  "that  if 
liberty  should  be  given  to  people  to  sing  in  churches 
every  one  that  translation  which  they  desire,  by 
that  means  several  translations  mio;ht  come  to  be  used 
— yea,  in  one  and  the  same  congregation  at  the  same 
time,  which  would  be  a  great  distraction  and  hin- 
drance to  edification."  But  Parliament  finally  ordered 
"that  the  Book  of  Psalms  set  forward  by  Mr  Eous,  and 
perused  by  the  Assembly  of  Divines,  be  sung  in  all 
churches  and  chapels  in  the  kingdom  of  England,  do- 
minion of  Wales,  and  town  of  Berwick-upon-Tweed."  ^ 
This  Psalter  was  authorised  for  Scotland  by  the 
General  Assembly  and  the  Commission  of  Estates  in 
the  beginning  of  the  year  1650.^  Every  one  ac- 
quainted with  Scotland  knows  how  fervently  the 
genius  of  the  people,  musical  and  religious,  centred  in 
this  book  of  vocal  praise.  The  work  of  Eous  was 
familiar  and  beloved  in  every  Presbyterian  church 
and  home  ;  but  among  names  of  any  celebrity  it  would 
be  difficult  to  find  one  less  known  among  the  people 
of  Scotland  than  Francis  Rous.^ 

^  Baillie's  Letters,  iii.  539. 

2  A  very  instructive  account  of  the  literature  of  Scottish  psalmody 
will  be  found  in  "  Notices  regarding  the  Metrical  Versions  of  the  Psalms 
received  by  the  Church  of  Scotland,"  in  the  appendix  to  Laing's  edi- 
tion of  BaUlie's  Letters  and  Journals,  iii.  525. 

^  There  seem  to  have  been  contemporary  reasons  for  keeping  his  name 
out  of  sight  among  the  Scots  Presbyterians.  We  find,  before  the  com- 
plete adoption  of  this  Psalter,  BaUlie,  in  some  perplexity,  saying :  "  I 
have  farthered  that  work  ever  with  my  best  wishes ;  but  the  scruple  now 
arises  of  it  in  my  mind — -the  first  author  of  the  translation,  ilr  Eous, 
my  good  friend,  has  complied  with  the  Sectaries,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
Republic.  How  a  psalter  of  his  framing,  albeit  with  miich  variation, 
shall  be  received  by  our  Church,  I  do  not  well  know  ;  yet  it  is  needful 
we  should  have  one,  and  a  better  in  haste  we  cannot  have." — Letters, 
&c.,  iii.  97. 


WESTMINSTER   ASSEMBLY    STANDARDS,   1646-48.     227 

More  eminently  than  either  in  the  Directory  or  the 
Psalm-book,  have  the  achievements  of  the  Westminster 
Assembly  been  renowned  in  connection  with  religious 
life  in  Scotland.  The  fruit  of  a  long  process  of  intel- 
lectual toil  and  eager  debate  was  their  announcement 
of  the  Presbyterian  faith  of  the  British  Islands  in 
three  forms.  These  were — 1.  "  The  Confession  of 
Faith  ;  "  2.  "  The  Larger  Catechism  ;"  3.  "  The  Shorter 
Catechism."  These  may  be  received  as  the  final  set- 
tlement and  adjustment  of  those  religious  contests 
about  the  objects  of  which  the  reader  has  perhaps 
found  more  than  enough  in  these  pages.  They  are 
like  the  treaty  of  peace  at  the  end  of  a  war,  going  over 
with  dry  formality  events  which  have  had  their  day 
of  exciting  interest — a  sort  of  document  notably  un- 
interesting to  all  but  close  investigators.  The  three 
form  a  code  of  doctrine,  as  to  which  it  is  held,  by 
something  akin  to  what  the  English  sages  call  "  a 
fiction  of  law,"  that  every  Scots  Presbyterian  believes 
all  its  positions — by  a  bolder  fiction  he  is  held  to  un- 
derstand them  all.  As  to  his  means  for  legitimately 
accomplishing  both  ends,  he  knows,  or  has  known,  the 
Shorter  Catechism,  becavise  he  has  had  to  commit  it 
to  memory  at  school.  But  a  Scottish  layman  well 
grotmded  in  the  Confession  and  the  Larger  Catechism 
is  a  rare  being ;  and  it  has  been  sometimes  suspected 
that  there  are  points  in  both  of  which  some  even  of 
the  clergy  have  not  a  familiar  knowledge.  It  may 
be  noticed  that  the  Confession  of  Faith  was  the  first 
announcement  from  authority  of  the  books  which 
were  in  Scotland  to  be  counted  the  canonical  Bible. 
Like  England  in  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  Scotland 
adopted  the  old  accepted  canon,  without  of  course 


228  CHARLES    I. 

referring  to  such  a  coincidence  as  an  authority  or  a 
precedent.  The  Confession  declares  that  the  Scripture 
should  be  translated  into  the  vulgar  tongue,  "that 
the  AVord  of  God  dwelling  plentifully  in  all,  they  may 
Avorship  Him  in  an  acceptable  manner,  and  through 
patience  and  comfort  of  the  Scripture  may  have  hope." 
No  one  version,  however,  is  held  as  authorised.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  is  declared  that  the  Old  Testament 
in  Hebrew,  and  the  New  Testament  in  Greek,  "being 
immediately  inspired  by  God,  and  by  His  care  and 
providence  kept  pure  in  all  ages,  are  therefore  autlien- 
tical,  so  as  in  all  controversies  of  religion  the  Church 
is  finally  to  appeal  unto  them." 

It  must  always  be  I'emembered  that  these  Acts  and 
standards  were  not  sent  into  Scotland  for  observance 
there  by  the  authoiity  of  the  Assembly  of  Divines. 
This  institution  was  purely  English.  So  far  as  Scot- 
land was  concerned,  they  acted  merely  as  draftsmen 
and  councillors.  The  title  prefixed  to  the  Confession  of 
Faith,  and  foUoAved  in  the  other  documents,  announces 
the  method  of  their  transference  to  Scotland  :  "  The 
Confession  of  Faith  agreed  upon  by  the  Assembly 
of  Divines  at  Westminster,  examined  and  approved 
anno  1647  by  the  Church  of  Scotland,  and  ratified  by 
Act  of  Parliament  1649." 

While  these  deliberations,  from  which  Scotland  was 
to  inherit  the  chief  permanent  result,  drew  out  their 
tedious  length  in  the  Jerusalem  Chamber  of  St  Steph- 
en's, the  great  events  of  the  civil  war  were  rapidly 
following  each  other.  The  separate  events  in  which 
Scotland  was  concerned  were  few,  and  not  pleasant  to 
remember.  As  we  have  already  seen,  the  Scots  com- 
missioners added  considerable  weisfht  to  the  charses 


EXECUTIONS    OF    ROYALISTS,    1644-46.  229 


which  brought  Laud  to  the  block.  Other  men  con- 
spicuous in  enmity  to  the  course  taken  by  the  Scots 
Estates  were  marked  out  for  vengeance.  The  first 
of  these  was  Sir  John  Gordon  of  Haddo,  the  house 
which  afterwards  became  the  earldom  of  Aberdeen. 
He  was  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Gordons  in  the  north ; 
and  granting  that  hostility  to  the  Estates  was  a 
crime — and  they,  having  the  supreme  power  for  the 
time,  had  declared  it  so  to  be — it  was  easy  to  prove 
that  he  had  done  enough  to  justify  any  amount  of 
punishment.^  He  was  tried  by  the  Estates,  and 
sentenced  to  death.  On  the  19th  of  July  1644  his 
head  was  struck  off  by  "  the  Maiden "  or  guillotine. 
He  was  followed  by  Sir  Eobert  Spottiswood, 
Ogilvie  of  Inverquharity,  who  had  been  an  active 
leader  in  the  contest  with  Argyle,  and  five  others  of 
smaller  note.  The  case  of  Sir  Eobert  Spottiswood  was 
peculiar.  He  had  not  taken  arms,  and  was  to  be  dealt 
with  as  a  treasonable  statesman.  He  was  charged 
with  several  acts  hostile  to  the  Estates ;  and  among 
these,  as  Secretary  of  State  he  had  sealed  and  signed 
the  commission  "  to  James  Graham,  sometime  Earl  of 
Montrose,  a  declared  and  forfeited  traitor  and  an  ex- 
communicated person,"  appointing  him,  as  lieutenant 
of  the  kingdom,  to  raise  forces  "against  the  king's 
majesty's  good  subjects,  and  against  the  forces  raised 
and  levied  in  arms  by  authority  of  the  Estates  of 
Parliament  of  this  kingdom."  ^  It  was  believed  that 
his  fate  Avas  somewhat  in  retaliation  for  his  exertions 
in  the  condemnation  of  Balmerinoch  in  1633.  He 
was  beheaded  on  the  16th  of  January  1646. 

1  See  his  indictment,  Acts  of  Pari.,  vi.  21. 

2  State  Trials,  iv.  769. 


230  CHARLES    I. 

The  Scots  army  in  Eugiand  could  only  be  called  an 
auxiliary  force  subject  to  the  tactic  of  the  great  army 
at  the  nominal  disposal  of  the  English  Parliament. 
Still  the  Scots  kept  apart  under  their  own  officers, 
carefully  avoiding  any  surrender  of  their  separate 
nationality.  They  were  posted  before  Newark,  wdien, 
on  the  morning  of  the  5th  of  May  1645,  the  king 
appeared  within  their  lines.  The  great  battle  of 
Naseby  had  been  fought.  Many  other  calamities  had 
crowded  round  his  cause — he  was  besieged  in  Oxford, 
and  when  the  place  was  taken  he  was  at  the  mercy  of 
his  enemies.  He  would  have  gone  to  London,  but  a 
safe-conduct  was  refused  to  him — an  assurance  that 
the  war  was  a  war  of  life  or  death  to  each  side.  The 
king  travelled  in  humble  disguise  with  two  attendants. 
It  is  said  that  when  he  came  to  Harrow-on-the-Hill 
he  was  yet  uncertain  where  he  should  seek  refuge, 
and  "  much  perplexed  what  course  to  resolve  upon 
— London  or  northward."  ^  His  dreary  journey  from 
Oxford  to  Newark,  in  Nottinghamshire,  was  eight 
days  long.  On  his  arrival  he  found  Leven  in  com- 
mand, and  Avas  received  by  the  old  man  with  as 
much  ceremonial  and  dutiful  submission  as  the  con- 
dition of  a  camp  enabled  him  to  display.  It  was 
remai'ked  that  in  these  courtesies  the  general  gave  up 
his  sword,  and  that  the  king  did  not  give  it  back,  as 
Leven  expected.  To  prevent  the  king  from  personally 
interfering  with  the  discipline  of  his  army,  he  found  it 
expedient  to  give  a  strong  hint  that  he  was  virtually 
commander  there,  though  in  humble  duty  to  his 
majesty. 

There  was  a  statement,  for  which  there  seems  to  be 

'  Clarendon,  633. 


THE    KING    IN    THE    SCOTS    CAMP,    1645.         23I 

no  foundation,  that  the  king  went  to  the  Scots  camp 
in  terms  of  a  treaty  or  arrangement.  It  seems,  in  fact, 
to  have  been,  like  many  other  acts  of  his,  the  result 
of  a  sudden  idea,  in  the  pursuit  of  which  he  deceived 
himself  with  the  notion  that  he  was  pursuing  a  pro- 
fouud,  or,  as  others  held  it  to  be,  a  perfidious  policy. 

The  Parliament  required  the  Scots,  Avhom  they 
counted  as  a  mercenary  army  in  their  service,  to  sur- 
render the  king  and  the  two  men  who  had  assisted 
him.  The  Scots  declined  to  obey  the  requisition. 
They  gave  their  august  visitor  a  guard  of  honour, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  protect  his  person  and  prevent 
him  from  escaping  from  the  Scots  camp  as  he  had 
from  Oxford.  They  moved  northwards  to  Newcastle, 
which  Avas  virtually  their  own,  in  order  that  they 
might  more  effectually  protect  the  king  from  his  enemies 
and  keep  him  to  themselves.  Perhaps  no  army  ever 
held  a  deposit  under  the  like  conditions,  and  casuistry 
might  have  been  let  loose  to  defend  or  attack  what- 
ever course  the  Scots  selected  for  his  disposal. 

During  his  abode  with  the  Scots  army  in  Newcastle 
he  chose  to  devote  his  otherwise  unoccupied  time  to  a 
piece  of  Avork  which  seemed  as  capricious  as  his  visit 
—  a  dispute  with  one  of  the  Scots  divines  on  the 
fundamental  principles  of  Church  government.  He 
selected  as  his  opponent  Alexander  Henderson.  The 
controversy  was  unproductive,  unless  we  are  to  be- 
lieve, with  a  class  of  writers  now  nearly  extinct,  that 
it  brought  the  divine  to  a  premature  end.  Hender- 
son no  doubt  died  soon  afterwards — on  the  19th  of 
August  1646".  His  death  was  attributed  to  remorse, 
whether  at  having  ventured  to  contradict  the  Lord's 
anointed,  or  from  his  conscience  telling  him  that  the 


232  CHARLES    I. 

king  spoke,  like  his  father  at  the  Hampton  Court  con- 
troversy, through  special  inspiration,  and  therefore  that 
his  own  long-cherished  Presbyterian  opinions  were 
false  and  perilous.  It  might  be  supposed  that  if  con- 
tradicting and  thwarting  the  poor  king  were  among 
the  natural  causes  of  death,  it  must  have  caused  ex- 
tensive mortality  in  that  age.  Yet  in  this  instance 
the  assertion  took  so  much  hold  that  Henderson's 
partisans  and  the  General  Assembly  itself  were  much 
troubled  in  refuting  it. 

Eenowned  as  this  controversy  is  in  history,  it  may 
be  doubted  if  there  are  many  people  now  alive  who 
have  read  it  through.  It  has  little  to  excite  atten- 
tion or  interest.  It  belongs  to  that  driest,  most  in- 
terminable, and  least  effective  or  conclusive  of  all 
theological  contests — the  dispute  about  the  question 
whether  the  order  of  the  primitive  Church  was 
Prelatic  or  Presbyterian.  A  small  contribution  to 
that  dreary  ocean  of  debate,  it  is  unendowed  with  the 
virulence  that  confers  a  strong  life  on  its  surface  here 
and  there.  It  is  not  an  earnest  dispute.  The  king 
merely  sought  by  an  act  of  condescension  to  convert 
or  disarm  a  powerful  opponent.  There  is  little  in 
what  he  says  to  excite  any  feeling  save  a  shade  of 
compassion  in  seeing  a  haughty  reserved  spirit  sub- 
mitting to  so  humiliating  a  task.  He  professes  to 
desire  the  counsel  and  information  of  learned  men 
for  his  guidance,  and  he  singles  out  Henderson  as  a 
learned  man.  There  is  a  foregone  conclusion,  however, 
that  it  is  for  himself  to  decide.  He  is  like  the  judge 
who  sits  to  hear  counsel  learned  in  the  law,  yet  re- 
serves complete  command  over  the  final  issue. 

Had   his   opponent  been  either   Knox    or   Andrew 


THE    KING    IN    THE    SCOTS    CAMP,    1645.         233 

Melville,  the  contest  would  have  had  a  different  as- 
pect. Challenged  by  a  king  to  a  formal  dialectic 
tournament,  either  of  them  would  have  rushed  to 
the  battle  with 

"  The  stern  joy  "vvhich  ■warriors  feel 
111  foemen  worthy  of  their  steel." 

But  Henderson  was  of  another  kind.  If  it  is  true  that 
he  was,  as  some  assert,  though  others  deny,  a  worldly 
man  at  heart,  he  saw  that  royalty  and  prelacy  were 
not  to  be  the  steps  towards  promotion.  He  is  true 
throughout  to  his  cause,  and  true  without  violence  or 
arrogance.  To  his  royal  opponent  he  is  respectful,  but 
not  servile.  He  uses  moderately  the  opportunity  of 
inflicting  tediousness,  which  is  so  often  the  privilege 
of  his  class;  and  his  contribution  to  the  controversy  is 
hardly  twice  the  length  of  the  king's.  On  the  whole, 
he  acquitted  himself  with  moderation  and  good  taste. 
The  chief  point  between  them  is,  that  on  the  king  ask- 
ing what  can  be  said  against  the  Church  of  England 
as  the  interpreter  of  the  forms  of  the  primitive  hier- 
archy, he  is  met  by  the  denial  that  there  ever  was  a 
primitive  hierarchy  to  be  interpreted ;  and  this  posi- 
tion is  defended  by  the  usual  references  to  fathers 
of  the  Church  and  the  like.  The  divine  right  of 
kings  having  no  place  in  Henderson's  argument, 
he  excites  something  approaching  to  a  haughty  re- 
buke by  his  method  of  referring  to  them  as  men 
fallible  and  responsible.  Eef erring  to  King  James's 
acknowledgments  of  the  discipline  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  he  is  told  :  "  Concerning  the  king  my  father, 
of  happy  and  famous  memory  both  for  his  piety  and 
learning,  I  must  tell  you  that  I  had  the  happiness  to 
know  him  much  better  than  you ;  wherefore  I  desire 


234  CHARLES    I. 

you  not  to  be  too  confident  in  tlie  knowledge  of  liis 
opinions,  for  I  daresay,  sliould  his  ghost  now  speak,  he 
would  tell  you  that  a  bloody  reformation  was  never 
lawful,  as  not  warranted  by  God's  Word,  and  that 
■prceces  et  lacIirymcB  sunt  arma  ecclesice."  And  then 
coming  closer  to  that  claim  of  absolute  power  which 
it  was  the  misfortune  of  his  life  to  pursue :  "  For  your 
defensive  war, — as  I  do  acknowledge  it  as  a  great  sin 
for  a  king  to  oppress  the  Church,  so  I  hold  it  absolutely 
unlawful  for  subjects,  upon  any  pretence  whatever,  to 
make  war,  though  defensive,  against  their  lawful  sover- 
eign; against  which  no  less  proofs  will  make  me  yield 
than  God's  Word.  And  let  me  tell  you  that  upon 
such  points  as  these,  instances  as  well  as  comparisons 
are  odious."^ 

The  king  remained  with  the  Scots  upwards  of  eight 
months.  In  writings  contemporary  and  of  later  date 
there  is  a  world  of  conjecture  as  to  his  designs  or 
secret  thoughts,  with  no  distinct  or  satisfactory  solu- 
tion. One  subtle  suggestion,  for  instance,  would  afford 
a  substantial  reason  for  the  Henderson  controversy — 
was  it  that  he  might  have  an  opportunity,  at  any  time 
before  its  conclusion,  to  say  that  he  was  convinced, 
and  to  throw  himself  heartily  into  the  cause  of  the 
Scots  and  their  Presbyterian  brethren  in  England  1 
We  know  that  this  course  was  pressed  on  him,  and 
that  he  did  not  take  it.  Among  other  distinct  facts  is, 
that  his  cause  in  England  was  gone,  and  acknowledged 
even  by  himself  to  be  so.  He  went  so  far  with  the 
Scots  as  to  abandon  his  ostensible  quarrel  with  them, 
by  the  withdrawal  of  Montrose's  commission  as  lieu- 

'  The  Papers  which  passed  at  Newcastle  betwixt  liis  Sacred  Majesty 
and  Mr  Ak^xander  Henderson,  163,  180. 


THE    KING    IN    THE    SCOTS    CAMP,    1645.         23S 

tenant-general.  Montrose  had  to  leave  Scotland  ;  but 
it  was  maintained  that  this  was  only  keeping  the  word 
of  promise  in  the  lip,  since  there  was  still  an  armed 
Cavalier  force  in  the  north.  The  king,  it  was  said,  could 
have  disbanded  it,  but  it  remained  active  and  mischiev- 
ous until  David  Leslie  went  with  a  superior  force  for 
its  chastisement.^  Another  fact  seems  certain,  that  if 
the  Scots  took  the  king  absolutely  under  their  protec- 
tion, and  removed  him  to  Scotland,  they  must  expect 
a  serious  war  with  the  predominant  party  in  England. 
Their  commissioners  in  London  were  told  this.  From 
the  earnestness  of  their  endeavours  to  gain  over  the 
king  to  their  own  Presbyterian  cause,  it  is  clear  that 
had  he  fairly  accepted  that  alternative,  they  would 
have  been  prepared  for  this  formidable  war. 

There  was  another  difficulty.  As  we  have  seen, 
their  importance  as  a  power  in  the  English  contest 
had  gradually  decreased.  Now  that  the  Avar  had 
virtually  come  to  an  end,  their  presence  in  England 
as  an  armed  force  was  an  offensive  intrusion.  On  the 
other  hand,  heavy  arrears  were  due  to  them,  and  they 
would  abide  until  these  were  paid.  They  Avere  like 
a  creditor  in  possession,  and  if  their  debt  were  not 
legitimately  settled,  they  would  continue  to  help 
themselves  by  forced  contributions  for  their  support. 
No  doubt  they  also  felt  that  in  the  possession  of  the 
king  they  held  in  pawn  a  pledge  that  might  be  made 
available  for  enforcing  their  claim.  To  any  other 
effect  he  must  have  been  a  troublesome  and  unwelcome 
guest,  since  he  exposed  the  Scots  to  the  enmity  of  the 
English  army,  yet  did  not  reward  them  by  compliance 
with  their  demands. 

1  Thurloe's  State  Papers,  i.  89. 


236  CHARLES    I. 

After  much  haggling  there  was  a  satisfactory  settle- 
ment of  the  arrears.  AVhen  this  had  been  adjusted, 
the  Scots  delivered  the  king  into  the  hands  of  com- 
missioners from  the  English  Parliament.  This  was 
done  on  the  8tli  of  January  1647,  and  then  the  Scots 
army  with  all  due  expedition  returned  home.  Another 
way  of  telling  the  story  would  be,  that  the  Scots, 
having  adjusted  the  pecuniary  business  which  de- 
tained them  in  England,  returned  home,  leaving  the 
king  behind  them. 

The  world  is  familiar  with  the  transaction  as  put 
in  another  shape  different  from  either  of  these — the 
Scots  sold  their  sovereign  to  his  enemies  for  a  sum  of 
money,  and  gave  it  the  name  of  arrears  of  pay.  Had 
they  invited  the  king  to  trust  himself  in  their  hands, 
they  might  have  been  chargeable  with  treachery;  but 
there  is  no  good  evidence  that  anything  was  done  to 
induce  him  to  rely  on  them.  On  the  face  of  the  trans- 
action there  is  no  connection  between  the  payment 
and  the  surrender ;  but  the  surrender  was  refused 
before  the  payment  was  made,  and  it  is  very  unlikely 
that  the  Scots  could  have  received  their  money  if 
they  had  not  surrendered  the  king.  All  this  is  pretty 
obvious  and  consistent  with  the  conclusion  already 
referred  to,  that  they  held  the  king  in  pawn  for  their 
claim.  Then,  apart  from  any  question  about  trust, 
had  the  king  really  fled  from  enemies  to  find  refuge 
with  friends  ?  The  Scots  army  were  older  and 
steadier  enemies  than  the  English.  It  was  in  the 
future,  no  doubt,  that  in  England  he  was  to  be  put 
to  death ;  but  the  Scots  had  no  more  reason  to  expect 
this  of  the  English  than  to  be  themselves  suspected  of 
such  a  design ;  and  it  was  not  by  the  party  to  whom 


THE    ENGAGEMENT,    1648.  237 

he  was  intrusted  or  "  sold  "  by  the  Scots  that  he  was 
put  to  death,  but  by  the  enemies  of  that  party.  The 
Scots  had  made  up  their  mind  to  return  home  when 
their  arrears  were  paid.  They  could  not  keep  the 
king  except  by  taking  him  with  them  into  Scotland, 
and  such  an  act  would  have  implied  at  once  sus- 
picion and  hostility  towards  those  who  had  been  so 
long  their  allies.  The  Scots  showed  in  what  they 
afterwards  attempted  for  him  and  for  his  son,  that 
had  he  agreed  to  their  terms,  and  consented  to  be  a 
Presbyterian  king  over  a  Presbyterian  people,  they 
would  have  fought  for  him  instead  of  "selling"  him. 
But  even  this  has  been  used  to  complete  the  picture 
of  meanness  and  treachery.  It  was  Judas  over  again 
— they  sold  their  master,  and  then,  overtaken  by  re- 
morse, committed  suicide  at  Preston  and  Worcester — 
as  if  the  passions  which  drive  the  individual  man 
to  crime,  followed  by  penitence,  had  any  analogy 
with  the  multiplied  motives  which  influence  com- 
munities in  their  political  action.  This  transac- 
tion has  been  overladen  by  a  heap  of  controversy. 
This  is  unsupported  by  the  apology  that  there  are 
mysteries  to  be  solved,  as  in  the  dispute  about  the 
guilt  of  Queen  Mary  and  other  like  discussions. 
The  facts  are  few  and  simple,  but  they  are  of  the 
kind  to  stir  political  sympathies  and  antipathies,  and 
so  to  be  dealt  with  as  these  may  dictate.  When 
he  left  the  Scots,  accompanied  by  the  Parliamentary 
commissioners,  he  was  still  a  king,  though  a  king  sur- 
rounded by  perils,  as  he  would  have  been  had  he  been 
removed  to  Edinburgh.  By  one  of  these  he  was  soon 
overtaken,  when  Joyce  with  his  troops  seized  him 
on  behalf  of  the  army.     All  this  is  English  history  of 


238  CHARLES    I. 

the  most  momentous  and  stirring  kind,  but  it  touches 
ScotLand  also.  At  Newport,  in  the  Isle  of  Wight, 
he  did  what,  if  he  had  done  it  at  Newcastle,  would 
have  carried  him  to  Edinburgh  in  regal  triumph.  He 
agreed  to  be  the  Covenanted  monarch  of  a  Presby- 
terian people.  Given  at  Newcastle,  this  assurance 
would  have  been  an  open,  substantial  proclamation  of 
his  royal  policy,  unless  he  might  have  said  that  it 
was  extorted  by  armed  force.  Done  in  secret  during 
furtive  interviews,  and  far  away  from  Scottish  force 
or  influence,  it  was  interpreted  as  an  act  of  treach- 
ery to  the  English  Parliament  and  army,  with  which 
he  was  in  open  treaty. 

So  necessary  was  it  to  keep  the  "  Engagement "  a 
mystery,  that  the  paper  on  which  it  was  recorded  was 
absolutely  hidden  in  a  hole  in  the  garden  at  Newport, 
where,  encased  in  lead  to  keep  it  from  damage,  it 
was  covered  with  earth.  The  commissioners  feared 
its  discovery  if  in  their  custody,  and  therefore  re- 
turned with  a  verbal  statement  of  the  result  of  their 
mission.  The  Committee  of  Estates  took  up  the  En- 
gagement, and  commissioned  an  army  to  aid  the  king 
in  return  for  his  concessions.  The  party  against  the 
Engagement  was,  however,  powerfid  —  it  included 
Argyle.  It  was  understood  that  this  Engagement 
would  band  the  loyal  Presbyterians  of  Scotland,  the 
old  Parliamentary  party  in  England,  and  the  Cavaliers, 
to  strive  in  concert  for  the  restoration  of  the  sovereign 
authority  to  be  wielded  over  three  Covenanted  king- 
doms. But  the  Church  would  not  accept  of  so  ques- 
tionable an  alliance.  They  felt  that  it  would  be  an 
intercommuning  with  prelatical  Malignants,  and  not 
only  declined  to  accept  of  the  Engagement,  but  ab- 


BATTLE    OF    PRESTON,    1648.  239 

jured  it  as  a  sin.  Tlie  Engagers  undertook  a  mighty 
project,  destined,  according  to  tlieir  own  expectations, 
to  revolutionise  the  whole  tenor  of  the  events  passing 
before  their  eyes.  The  end,  however,  was  so  futile, 
that  it  is  necessary  to  hurry  past  it  as  among  the  abor- 
tive efforts  for  which  history  can  ouly  afford  a  casual 
notice.  An  army  was  sent  southwards  with  the 
mighty  design  of  an  invasion  of  England.  It  was  put 
under  the  command  of  the  Duke  of  Hamilton ;  and 
what  he,  or  others  responsible  for  its  organisation,  had 
made  of  it,  may  be  best  told  by  his  eulogist :  "  The 
regiments  were  not  full,  many  of  them  scarce  exceeded 
half  their  number,  and  not  the  fifth  man  could  handle 
pike  or  musket.  The  horse  were  the  best  mounted 
ever  Scotland  set  out,  yet  most  of  the  troopers  were 
raw  and  undisciplined.  They  had  no  artillery — not 
so  much  as  one  field-piece — very  little  ammunition, 
and  very  few  horse  to  carry  it ;  for  want  of  which  the 
duke  stayed  often  in  the  rear  of  the  whole  army  till 
the  countrymen  brought  in  horses,  and  then  conveyed 
it  with  his  own  guard  of  horse.  Thus  the  precipi- 
tation of  affairs  in  England  forced  them  on  a  march 
before  they  were  in  any  posture  for  it ;  but  now  they 
were  engaged,  and  they  must  go  forward."  ^ 

This  ill-found  army  wandered,  rather  than  marched, 
as  far  as  Preston.  There  it  was  surprised  by  Crom- 
well, and  broken.^     A  treaty,  as  advantageous  as  it 

1  Burnet's  Memoirs,  355. 

^  So  little  is  kuo\wi  of  the  details  of  this  affair  and  the  part  especially- 
taken  by  Hamilton's  force,  that  there  may  be  some  interest  in  the  fuUow- 
ino-  narrative  by  Sir  Marmaduke  Langdale.  It  is  the  complaint  of  a 
commander  ill  supported  by  his  colleague,  but  there  is  enough  in  it  to 
show  abundant  mismanagement  :— 

"  The  same  night  certayne  intelligence  came  that  Lt.-Generall  Crom- 
well with  all  his  forces  was  within  3  miles  of  my  quarters,  which  I  im- 


240  CHARLES    I. 

could  obtain,  was  its  only  alternative.  The  treaty  of 
Uttoxeter  was  signed  on  the  25th  of  August  1658.  It 
conditioned  "  that  James,  Duke  of  Hamilton,  his  grace, 
with  the  rest  of  the  officers  and  soldiers  under  his 


mediately  sent  to  the  duke,  and  told  it  to  my  Lord  Leviston  to  acquaint 
Lt.-Generall  Middleton  therewith,  and  drew  my  forces  together  in  a  tield, 
and  so  marched  towards  Preston  betimes  in  the  morning,  where  I  found 
the  duke  and  Lord  Calleuder  with  most  part  of  tlie  Scottish  foot  drawne 
up.  Their  resolution  was  to  march  to  Wiggan,  giving  little  credit  to  the 
intelligence  that  came  the  night  before,  but  s\iffer  their  horse  to  continue 
in  their  quarters  10  and  12  miles  off. 

"  Within  halfe  an  hower  of  our  meeting,  and  by  that  time  I  was  drawen 
into  the  close  neere  Preston,  the  enemy  appeared  with  a  small  body  of 
horse  ;  the  Scotts  continue  their  resolution  for  Wiggan,  for  which  end 
they  drew  their  foote  over  the  bridge.  The  enemy  coming  the  same 
way  that  I  had  marched,  fell  upon  my  quarter,  where  we  continued 
skirmishing  six  houres,  in  all  which  time  the  Scott  sent  me  no  relief : 
they  had  very  few  horse  come  up,  so  as  those  tliey  sent  me  at  last  were 
but  few,  and  were  .soone  beaten  ;  but  if  they  had  sent  me  1000  foote  to 
have  flanked  the  enemy,  I  doubt  not  the  day  had  been  ours.  Yet  I 
kept  my  post,  with  various  successe,  many  times  gathering  ground  of  the 
enemy  ;  and  as  the  Scots  acknowledg,  they  never  saw  any  foote  light 
better  than  mine  did. 

"  The  duke  being  incredulous  that  it  was  the  whole  army,  sent  Sir 
Lewis  Dives  to  me,  to  whom  I  answered  that  it  was  impossible  any 
forces  that  were  inconsiderable  would  adventure  to  presse  upon  so  great 
an  army  as  we  had,  therefore  he  might  conclude  it  was  all  the  power 
they  could  make,  and  with  which  they  were  resolved  to  put  all  to  the 
hazard,  therefore  desired  that  I  might  be  seconded,  and  have  more  power 
and  ammunition,  I  having  spent  nine  barrels  of  powder. 

"  The  Scots  continue  their  march  over  the  river,  and  did  not  secure  a 
lane  near  the  bridge,  whereby  the  Parliament  forces  came  on  my  flanks; 
neither  did  the  forces  that  were  left  for  my  supply  come  to  my  relief, 
but  continued  in  the  reare  of  mine,  nor  did  they  ever  face  the  enemy,  hut 
in  bringing  up  the  reare. 

"  When  most  part  of  the  Scots  were  drawn  over  the  bridge,  the  Parlia- 
ment forces  pressed  hard  upon  me  in  the  van  and  flanks,  and  so  drive 
me  into  the  towne,  where  the  duke  was  in  person,  with  some  few  horse; 
but  all  being  lost,  retreated  over  a  foord  to  his  foote.  After  my  forces 
were  beaten,  the  Parliament  forces  beat  the  Scots  from  the  bridge  pre- 
sently, and  so  came  over  into  all  the  lanes,  that  we  could  not  joyne  with 
the  foote,  but  were  forced  to  Charlow,  where  we  found  Lt. -General 
Middleton  ready  to  advance  towards  Preston  towards  the  foote,  which 


BATTLE    OF    PRESTON,    1648.  241 

command,  now  at  Uttoxcter,  shall  render  themselves 
up  prisoners  of  war,  with  their  horses,  arms,  and  all 
other  provisions  of  war,  bag  and  baggage."  The  offi- 
cers and  soldiers  "  shall  have  their  lives  and  safety  of 

he  did ;  Ijut  not  finding  them  there,  returned  to  Wiggan,  where  the 
duke  was  with  his  foote  (mine  totally  lost). 

"  There  they  tooke  a  resolution  to  go  to  my  Lord  Biron,  for  which  end 
they  would  march  that  night  to  Warrington.  In  their  march  the  Parlia- 
ment forces  fell  so  fast  npon  their  rear,  that  they  could  not  reach  War- 
rington that  night.  And  Lieutenant-Generall  Middleton  finding  him- 
self unable  to  withstand  their  forces,  left  the  foote  in  Warrington  to 
make  their  own  conditions. 

"  So  as  we  marched  towards  Malpas,  sixe  of  the  Scottish  lords  in  this 
march  left  iis,  whereof  my  Lord  Traquaire  was  one.  Most  part  sub- 
mitted to  the  Sheriff  of  Shropshire,  who  sent  two  gentlemen  of  that 
country  to  the  duke  to  offer  him  the  same  quarter  that  the  Earl  of 
Traquaire  had.  From  Malpaa  we  marched  to  Drayton  and  so  to  Stone  ; 
in  our  march  from  thence  to  Uttoxeter,  the  Parliament  forces  fell  upon 
the  reare,  and  took  Lieutenant-Generall  Middleton. 

"At  Utoxeter  the  next  morning  going  to  attend  the  duke  for  his 
resolution,  I  found  him  extreame  sick,  not  able  to  march.  My  Lord 
Callender  seemed  to  refuse  all  wayes  of  treaty,  but  rather  to  march 
northward,  where  we  had  a  considerable  force,  and  the  whole  kingdome 
of  Scotland  at  our  backs.  Upon  this  we  marched  over  the  river  toward 
Ashburne.  I  had  the  van,  and  was  marching  ;  presently  my  Lord  of 
Callender  came  to  me,  told  me  he  would  march  with  me,  but  that  none 
of  his  forces  would,  and  that  he  had  much  ado  to  escape  them  ;  that  he 
was  come  himseK  alone,  his  horse  pricked  in  the  foote,  and  without  a 
cloake.  I  perswaded  his  lordship  that  it  was  better  to  return  to  his 
forces,  because  I  could  not  protect  him ;  and  seeing  the  Scots  had  left 
me,  I  was  resolved  to  sever  and  shift  every  man  for  himselfe,  but  to 
capitulate  I  could  not  with  a  safe  conscience." — Tracts  relating  to  the 
Military  Proceedings  in  Lancashire  during  the  great  CivU  War,  268-70. 

The  following  local  account  of  the  army's  march,  even  if  it  be  in 
some  measure  exaggerated,  shows  us  something  much  in  contrast  with 
Leslie's  orderly  invasions  : — 

"  In  divers  places  some  whole  families  have  not  left  them  wherewith 
to  subsist  a  day,  but  are  glad  to  come  hither  for  meer  subsistance.  They 
have  taken  forth  of  divers  families  all,  the  very  rackeu  crocks  and  pot- 
hooks ;  they  have  driven  away  all  the  beasts,  sheep,  and  horses,  in  divers 
townships,  all,  without  redemption,  save  some  poor  milche  kine.  They 
tell  the  people  they  must  have  their  houses  too,  and  we  verily  believe  it 
must  be  so,  because  Duke  Hamilton  hath  told  them  it  should  be  so. 

VOL.  VII.  Q 


242  CHARLES    I. 

their  persons  assured  to  them,  and  shall  not  be  pillaged 
or  stripped  of  their  wearing  clothes."'^ 

Though  the  Engagers  had  not  sent  into  England  the 
thirty  thousand  men  promised  by  them,  the  absence 
of  a  third  of  that  number,  and  of  the  officers  command- 
ing them,  weakened  the  Engagement  party.  We  have 
seen  that  it  was  when  Leslie's  army  went  to  England 
to  join  the  Parliamentary  forces  that  Montrose  was 
able  to  strike  a  blow  for  the  king.  On  this  occasion 
a  like  opportunity  was  taken  from  the  opposite  side, 
with  less  immediate,  but  more  permanent,  success. 
The  opponents  of  the  Engagement  held  from  the  begin- 
ning that  the  Covenant  was  brought  into  it  as  a  pre- 
tence. They  saw  Hamilton's  army  and  that  of  the 
English  Malignants  or  Cavaliers  acting  to  a  common 
end,  though  carefully  avoiding  all  visible  tokens  of 
concert  and  co-operation.     More  thoroughly  convinced. 

Their  usage  of  some  women  is  extreamly  abominable,  and  of  men  very 
barberous,  wberein  we  apprehend  nevertheless  something  of  God's 
justice  towards  very  many,  who  have  abundantly  desired  and  rejoyced 
at  their  advance  hither  :  old  extream  Cavaliers,  whom  they  have  most 
oppressed  in  their  acts  of  violence  and  plunder,  to  our  great  adndra- 
tion. 

"They  raile  without  measure  at  our  ministers, and  threaten  the  destruc- 
tion of  so  many  as  they  can  get.  Many  Cavaliers  have  sent  into  Furness 
and  Cartmel  to  Sir  Thomas  Tdsley  for  protections,  but  the  Scots  weigh 
not  their  protections  a  rush,  and  Tilsley  himself  tells  the  Cavaliers  he 
can  do  them  no  good,  but  wishes  them  to  use  their  best  shifts  in  putting 
their  goods  out  of  the  way.  They  say  they'll  not  leave  the  country 
worth  anything  ;  they  make  no  account  of  Lambert,  they  say  he  is  run 
away.  They  are  yet  in  quarters  at  Burton,  Kirby,  Whittington,  &o., 
and  the  English  at  Encross  and  Furness.  They  have  driven  away  above 
COO  cattle  and  1500  sheep.  They  have  given  such  earnest  of  their 
conditions  that  the  country  have  wholly  driven  away  their  cattel  of 
all  sorts  towards  Yorkshire  and  the  bottom  of  Lancashire  ;  forty  great 
droves  at  least  are  gone  from  us,  and  through  this  towne  this  day." 
—Ibid.,  254,  255. 

'  Burnet's  Memoirs,  364. 


THE    WHIGAMORES,    1648.  243 

or  professing  to  be  so,  every  day,  that  Hamilton  and 
his  followers  had  deserted  the  Covenant  and  the  na- 
tional cause  for  the  sake  of  helping  the  king  to  return 
unconditionally  to  his  throne,  the  minority  in  the 
Estates  used  all  their  feudal  and  popular  influence  to 
gather  a  force.  Argyle  was  to  bring  his  whole  following 
of  western  Highlanders.  The  clergy  of  the  west  were 
to  a  man  bitterly  against  the  Engagement,  and  they 
were  all  hard  at  work  rousing  the  faithful. 

It  is  at  this  period  that  we  find  for  the  first  time  in 
the  south-Avest  of  Scotland  a  zeal  for  the  Covenant 
heating  by  degrees,  until  it  at  last  outflamed  the  zeal 
of  the  east,  where  the  Covenant  had  its  cradle.  At 
Mauehline,  in  Ap'shire,  a  large  body  of  men  assembled 
under  the  auspices  of  Lord  Egiinton,  a  zealous  Cove- 
nanting potentate.  They  formed  themselves  into  a 
military  party,  and  marched  in  the  direction  of  Edin- 
burgh, gathering  as  they  went.  Their  feat  was  called 
"the  Whigamores'  Raid;"  and  this  is  the  first  use 
appearing  in  history  of  a  word  which,  in  its  abbrevi- 
ated form  of  "  Whig,"  was  destined  to  political  ser- 
vice too  well  known  to  need  a  word  of  explanation.^ 
Leslie  undertook  to  gather  into  a  compact  army  the 
heterogeneous  forces  thus  assembling  from  different 
quarters,  and  it  seemed  as  if  there  were  to  be  a  new 
civil  war  in  Scotland.      The  only  considerable  inci- 

^  They  are  called  Whigamores  by  Sir  James  Balfour,  a  contemporary. 
Burnet,  who  was  then  five  years  old,  afterwards  used  the  term  in  his 
'  Memoirs  of  the  House  of  Hamilton,'  and  also  in  his  '  History  of  his  own 
Times  '  where  he  offers  this  etymological  explanation  of  it :  "  The  south- 
west counties  of  Scotland  have  seldom  corn  enough  to  serve  them 
throughout  the  year,  and  the  northern  party  producing  more  than  they 
need  those  in  the  west  come  in  the  summer  to  buy  at  Leith  the  storse 
that  come  from  the  north  ;  and  from  a  word  '  whiggam,'  used  in  driv- 
ing their  horses,  all  that   drove    were  called   the  '  whiggamors,'    and 


244  CHARLES    I. 

dent  of  war,  however,  was  that  when  Argyle  with  his 
HighLanders  attempted  to  take  Stirling  Castle,  they 
were  assailed  and  severely  handled  by  Sir  George 
Monro,  who  had  bronght  over  a  division  of  Hamil- 
ton's army  left  near  the  Border  when  the  body  of  the 
army  had  advanced  on  Preston. 

Argyle  and  his  party,  however,  found  a  way  to 
make  their  predominance  secure.  They  came  to  terms 
with  the  victorious  Cromwell,  who  agreed  to  join  them 
in  Scotland.  The  fragments  of  Hamilton's  beaten 
army,  when  assembled  in  Scotland,  were  insufficient 
to  cope  with  the  new  power.  The  Committee  of 
Estates  retired,  or,  as  some  expressed  it,  fled.  A 
group  of  leaders,  with  Argyle  at  their  head,  formed 
a  government,  and  took  to  themselves  the  name  of 
the  "  Committee  of  Estates." 

The  road  to  Scotland  being  oj)ened  by  the  destruc- 
tion of  Hamilton's  army,  Cromwell  marched  to  Edin- 
burgh. He  laid  before  the  Committee  of  Estates, 
according  to  his  peculiar  rhetoric,  divers  "  considera- 
tions," like  the  preambles  of  Acts  of  Parliament — as, 
in  reference  to  the  army  which  he  had  broken  :  "  Con- 
sidering that  divers  of  that  army  are  retired  into 
Scotland,  and  some  of  the  heads  of  those  Malignants 
were  raising  new  forces  in  Scotland  to  carry  on  the 

shorter  the  '  whiggs.'  Now  in  that  year,  after  the  news  came  down  of 
Duke  Hamilton's  defeat,  the  ministers  animated  their  people  to  rise  and 
march  to  Edinburgh  ;  and  they  came  up,  marching  at  the  head  of  their 
parishes,  with  an  imheard-of  fury,  praying  and  preaching  all  the  way  as 
tliey  came.  The  Marquis  of  Argyle  and  his  party  came  and  headed 
them,  they  being  about  six.  thousand.  This  was  called  the  Whiggamors' 
inroad ;  and  ever  after  tliat,  those  who  opposed  tlie  cause  came  in  con- 
tempt to  be  called  '  Wliiggs  ;'  and  from  Scotland  the  word  was  brought 
into  England,  where  it  is  now  one  of  our  unhappy  terms  of  distinction." 
— Summary  of  Affairs. 


ACT    OF    CLASSES,    1649.  245 

same  design,  and  that  they  will  certainly  be  able  to 
do  the  like  upon  all  occasions  of  advantage ; "  there- 
fore he  demanded  assurance,  in  name  of  the  kingdom 
of  Scotland,  that  no  person  accessary  to  the  Engage- 
ment, which  was  followed  by  the  invasion,  "  be  em- 
•ployed  in  any  public  place  or  trust  whatsoever."  Of 
course  there  was  no  alternative  but  to  concede  these 
terms.  In  fact  they  were  what  the  Government  of 
Scotland  vehemently  desired ;  but  that  they  were 
pressed  by  Cromwell  made  it  all  the  more  likely  that 
they  would  be  put  in  full  force.  Oa  the  other  hand,  he 
did  his  new  allies  the  compliment  of  taking  or  renew- 
ing the  Covenant  along  with  them.  He  was  feasted 
with  great  pomp  in  "  the  High  Parliament  House."  ^ 
Argyle  and  he  had  much  opportunity  of  conference ; 
and  the  Cavaliers  even  suspected  that  the  tragic 
drama  to  be  presently  enacted,  with  much  more 
dark  work,  was  then  concerted  between  these  subtle 
spirits. 

The  Estates  assembled  in  the  beginning  of  January 
1649.  The  predominant  party  were  able  carefully 
to  weed  the  new  Parliament  of  the  Engagement  ele- 
ment. Their  chief  business  was  to  give  full  effect  to 
the  bargain  with  Cromwell,  by  excluding  from  public 
office  all  who  had  been  concerned  in  the  Engage- 
ment. Two  statutes,  one  of  them  known  in  history 
as  the  "  Act  of  Classes,"  confirmed  this  disqualification, 
and  at  the  same  time  reversed  much  of  the  business 
transacted  by  recent  Parliaments  and  by  the  Commit- 
tee of  Estates. 

Four  "  classes"  of  men  are  defined  according  to  their 
conduct  as  disqualified  from  sitting  in  Parliament  or 

^  Carlyle's  Cromwell,  ii.  223  el  seq. 


246  CHARLES    I. 

holding  any  public  office  for  a  period  measured  by 
their  iniquities.  They  include  all  Malignants  or 
enemies  of  the  Covenant,  and  all  those  who  j)roved 
themselves  its  false  friends  by  either  furthering  or 
assenting  to  the  Engagement.  The  fourth  class  was 
of  a  general  and  comprehensive  character,  including 
all  men  "  given  to  uncleanness,  bribery,  swearing, 
drunkenness,  or  deceiving,  or  are  otherwise  openly 
profane  and  grossly  scandalous  in  their  conversation, 
and  who  neglect  the  worship  of  God  in  their  families." 

Had  these  Acts  been  passed  in  the  General  Assem- 
bly instead  of  the  Estates,  they  could  not  have  done 
more  to  throw  the  country  into  the  hands  of  the 
clergy.  One  of  the  grounds  of  criminality  in  those 
who  went  with  the  Engagement  was,  that  the  General 
Assembly  had  issued  a  declaration  maintaining  "  the 
unlawfulness  of  the  said  Engagement,"  and  "  denounc- 
ing God's  judgment  against  it,"  which  denunciation 
"  was  seconded  so  speedily  and  immediately  by  God's 
own  hand  "  in  the  defeat  of  the  Scots  army.  Then  the 
restoration  of  those  belonging  to  "  the  classes,"  after 
their  period  of  probation,  was  to  be  contingent  on  their 
giving  satisfaction  to  the  judicatories  of  the  Kirk.^ 

It  is  not  wonderful  that  at  this  time  we  hear  of 
statesmen  sitting  for  lengthened  periods  on  the  stool 
of  repentance,  and  parish  ministers  re-enacting  the 
part  of  Hildebrand  with  the  emperor.^ 

'  "  Act  repealing  all  Acts  of  Parliament  or  Committee  made  for  the 
late  unlawful  Engagement,  and  ratifying  the  protestation  and  opposition 
against  the  same"  (Acts,  vi.  341)  ;  and  "  The  Act  of  Classes  for  purging 
the  judicatories  and  other  places  of  public  trust "  (ibid.,  352). 

'  "  To  remember  how  with  abundance  of  tears  the  Lord  Chancellor 
[Loudon]  made  his  repentance  in  the  East  Church  of  Edinburgh,  declar- 
ing so  much  of  his  former  honest  dealing  with  the  people  as  he  well 


ACT    OF    CLASSES,    1 649.  247 

These  Acts  are  long  discursive  papers,  unlike  the 
general  substance  of  the  Scottish  statute-book,  and 
bearing  more  resemblance  to  the  work  of  the  ecclesi- 
astical than  of  the  civil  power.  Through  all  the  wild 
work  of  the  period,  the  utterances  of  the  Legislature 
and  the  supreme  tribunals  generally  preserve  a  grave 
decorum  ;  but  these  Acts  are  full  of  vehement  raving. 
They  are  a  testimony  as  well  as  a  law,  and  a  song  of 
triumph  over  a  beaten  enemy  infused  through  both  ; 
in  this  capacity  they  refer  to  the  defeat  of  a   Scots 

knew  every  one  understood  ;  and  this  was  done  to  please  some  of  the 
leading  ministers,  who  were  now  leading  this  penitent  in  triumph,  and 
causing  him  sing  peccavi  to  blear  the  eyes  of  the  commons." — Balfour,  iii. 
395.  So  far  the  Lord  Lyon.  A  stranger  who  had  opportunities  for 
noticing  affairs  in  Scotland  a  few  months  later,  tells  how  several  of  the 
more  eminent  of  the  Engagers  "  went  from  Court,  and  have  by  their 
several  ways  endeavoured  to  be  reconciled  to  the  Kirk  and  State,  and 
have  had  their  various  success;  for  Duke  Hamilton,  notwithstanding  any 
submission  he  could  make,  was  not  permitted  to  stay  above  fourteen 
days  at  his  own  house,  but  was  forced  to  retreat  into  the  Isle  of  Arran. 
The  Earl  of  Lauderdale  had  the  favour  to  stay  at  home,  but  not  to  come 
to  Court.  The  Earl  of  Dunfermline  was  at  first  admitted  to  stay  at 
home,  then  to  give  satisfaction  for  being  in  the  late  wicked  and  unlaw- 
ful Engagement,  as  they  call  it,  sitting  in  his  own  seat  in  Dunfermline, 
and  not  in  sackcloth  on  the  stool  of  repentance  at  Edinburgh,  as  did  the 
Earl  of  Crawford  Lyndsay  at  the  same  time — but  the  reason  is  appar- 
ent, the  one  being  Argyle's  creature,  the  other  Hamilton's  brother-in- 
law  ;  and,  lastly,  to  be  permitted  to  come  to  Court  and  to  wait  gentle- 
man of  the  bedchaml-ier.  What  became  of  the  Earl  of  Carnwath  j'ou 
shall  hear  shortly.  The  Earl  of  Brainford  [?]  returned  to  his  friends; 
and  after  going  to  Edinbui-gh  and  desiring  to  be  reconciled  to  the  Kirk, 
he  waited  five  days  before  he  could  deliver  his  petition.  At  length  he 
wave  it  to  one  of  those  high  priests,  by  whom  it  was  carried  in,  and 
beinc  read,  after  much  scof&ng  at  his  titles,  answer  was  returned  him, 
that  as  he  behaved  himself  they  would  in  time  take  his  desires  into  con- 
sideration."— Sir  Edward  Walker's  Joiirnal,  159.  What  happened  to 
Carnwath  was,  that  being  driven  from  the  presence  of  Charles  II.  when 
in  Scotland  by  Mr  Wood,  a  minister,  one  of  the  commissioners  to  the 
Hague,  "  and  coming  to  him,  said,  '  God,  I  hope,  will  forgive  me ;  will 
not  you  ? '  But  ]Mr  Wood  turned  from  him  in  disdain,  giving  him  never 
a  word."— Ibid.,  161. 


248  CHARLES    I. 

by  an  English  army  as  something  like  a  special 
mercy. -^ 

These  Acts  were  probably  prepared  by  Warriston, 
who,  by  his  ascetic  life,  his  pious  conversation,  and 
his  untiring  zeal  in  ecclesiastical  work,  proved  himself 
to  be  one  of  the  few  laymen  of  that  period  to  whom 
the  Covenant  was  more  than  a  mere  political  power. 
We  know  that  he  made  a  notable  speech  on  the 
occasion,  and  the  Act  itself  was  probably  modelled  on 
what  he  said.^ 

This  aifair  of  the  Engagement  and  the  Act  of 
Classes  might  afford  some  curious  matter  to  any  in- 
quirer not  under  an  obligation  to  measure  the  par- 
ticularity of  detail  with  the  ultimate  importance  of 
events.  Contemporary  literature  and  correspondence 
would  make  this  stage  in  the  current  of  events  seem 
as  important  as  the  promulgation  of  the  Covenant  or 
the  march  of  Leslie's  army  into  England.  It  seemed 
as   if  the  great  cause,  which  appeared  to  falter,  had 

1  Among  the  iniquities  of  the  Engagers  are,  that  they  "led  out  a 
forced  multitude  to  slaughter  or  slavery  with  so  great  reproach  and  dis- 
gTace  to  the  nation,  and  occasioned  a  powerful  army  to  enter  the  howels 
of  this  kingdom  in  pursuit  of  their  enemies  who  had  invaded  England, 
to  the  great  endangerment  of  this  kingdom,  and  so  laying  the  land  open, 
and  making  it  liable  to  the  guilt  and  misery  of  an  unjust  and  offensive 
war,  drawing  down  God's  judgments,  and  exposing  us  and  our  posterity 
to  invasion  from  ovir  neighbour  kingdom,  if  God  in  His  providence  had 
not  remedied  the  same."  Farther,  the  protestations  of  the  clergy  were 
confirmed  "  by  God's  O'viTi  hand,"  "  in  the  defeat  of  that  army  and  their 
overthrow  in  England  with  their  associates  in  England." 

^  "  This  day  the  Marquis  of  Argyle  had  a  very  long  speech,  consisting 
of  five  heads,  which  he  called  the  breaking  of  the  Malignants'  teeth,  and 
he  who  came  after  him  (Warriston,  viz.)  would  break  their  jaws." 
"  Warriston,  the  king's  advocate,  after  the  Marquis  of  Argyle  had 
ended,  read  a  speech  two  hours  in  length  off  his  paper,  being  an  ex- 
planation of  Argyle's  five  heads  of  teeth,  as  he  named  them,  with  the 
answering  of  such  objects  he  thought  the  prime  Engagers  would  make 
in  their  own  defence." — Balfour,  iii.  377. 


EXECUTION    OF    CHARLES    I.,    1649.  249 

renewed  its  strength.  The  Lord  was  showing  again 
the  face  which  He  had  withdrawn  ;  the  enemy  was 
conquered,  and  the  work  of  bringing  the  three  king- 
doms to  Covenanted  reformation  was  to  revive  and  go 
on  to  its  triumphant  end.  There  seems  to  have  been 
among  the  zealots  who  had  got  possession  of  the 
Estates  an  utter  unconsciousness  that  a  power  was 
arising  destined  to  overwhelm  them  and  their  policy. 
While  Warriston  was  proclaiming  the  triumph  of  his 
party  and  the  reign  of  righteousness,  the  High  Court 
of  Justice  was  beginning  its  work  in  Westminster 
Hall.  On  the  30th  of  January  1649,  King  Charles  I. 
was  beheaded.  With  the  High  Court  of  Justice  by 
which  he  was  tried  and  condemned  Scotland  had 
no  concern.  On  England  lay  the  responsibility  of  the 
act,  and  with  those  who  write  the  history  of  the 
England  of  that  day  lies  the  responsibility  of  passing 
historical  judgment  on  it.  It  must  suffice  on  the  pre- 
sent occasion  to  note  some  points  of  difference  between 
political  conditions  in  England  and  in  Scotland  in- 
tiuencing  the  effect  which  the  event  had  on  public 
feeling  in  Scotland. 

In  Scotland  there  was  no  republican  party.  The 
opponents  of  the  king  only  desired  to  bring  him  to 
reason.  They  would  not  have  put  him  to  death,  nor 
would  they  approve  of  the  act.  It  was  perhaps,  how- 
ever, hardly  to  them  that  deed  of  awful  sacrilege  which 
it  was  in  the  eyes  of  the  English  Eoyalists.  It  seems 
on  the  whole,  indeed,  to  have  been  considered  an  event 
rather  fortunate  in  itself,  that  the  regicides  of  England 
should  have  disposed  of  a  king  so  obstinate  and  so 
tricky,  making  way  for  an  unsophisticated  youth  who 
might  be  trained  in  the  right  path.     It  was  perhaps 


250  CHARLES    I. 

the  way  in  wliich  God  thouglit  fit  to  further  the  cause 
of  the  Covenant  and  of  righteousness,  that  the  stum- 
bling-block should  be  removed  by  the  hands  of  these 
English  sectaries  and  latitudinarians.  They  them- 
selves were  all  for  the  monarchy — the  old  Scots 
monarchy  which  had  existed  for  more  than  a  thousand 
years.  But  they  had  no  favour  for  this  particular 
monarch  ;  and  without  calling  him  a  saint  and  martyr, 
or  announcing  that  his  fate  had  stricken  many  of  his 
faithful  people  with  death  or  insanity,  they  accepted 
of  his  son  as  the  legitimate  successor  to  the  crown  of 
Eobert  Bruce. 

Distance  from  the  scene  of  the  tragedy  concurred, 
with  other  incidental  matters,  to  render  the  excitement 
naturally  accompanying  such  an  event  less  powerful 
in  Scotland  than  in  England.  But  there  was  another 
emphatic  difference  between  the  two  countries.  To 
the  actors  on  the  public  stage  in  Scotland  the  long 
contest  had  been  on  purely  public  grounds,  religious 
or  political.  It  had  not  become,  as  in  England,  a  per- 
sonal struggle  for  life  or  death.  In  estimating  the 
motives  of  those  chiefly  concerned  in  the  event,  this 
should  ever  be  remembered.  The  long  dangerous 
game  of  fast-and-loose  that  had  been  played  with 
those  who,  from  the  opening  of  the  Long  Parliament, 
had  been  in  one  shape  or  other  at  enmity  Avith  the 
Court,  convinced  them  that  no  treaty  or  other  adjust- 
ment or  promise  would  make  their  lives  secure  while 
the  king  lived.  In  Scotland,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
party  opposed  to  him — it  might  be  more  correct  to 
say  the  party  ojDposed  to  his  government — had  all 
along  a  preponderance  so  overwhelming  that  the 
leaders  of  it  had  nothing  personally  to  fear.     There 


PROCLAMATION    OF    CHARLES    IL,    1649.         25 1 

are  many  testimonies  to  this,  but  one  is  conclusive, 
that  while  the  balance  was  vibrating  between  the  two 
sides  in  England,  the  Scots  lent  their  army  to  their 
friends  of  the  Parliamentary  party  ;  and  it  was  only 
while  this  army  was  absent  on  duty  elsewhere  that 
the  Cavalier  party  were  able  to  take  the  field. 

On  the  5th  of  February,  immediately  after  the 
ncAvs  of  the  execution  had  reached  Edinburgh,  Charles 
II.  was  solemnly  proclaimed  at  the  cross  as  "  King 
of  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Ireland."  ^  As  we 
shall  presently  see,  however,  he  was  not  permitted 
to  enter  on  duty  until  he  became  an  assured  Cove- 
nanter. 

1  Balfour,  iii.  383. 


CHAPTER      LXXV. 

EXECUTION  OF  HAMILTON  AND    HUNTLY — MONTROSE's  PROJECT   IN 

THE  HIGHLANDS — ITS    FAILURE HIS  CAPTURE   AND    EXECUTION 

THE  COMMISSIONERS  WITH  CHARLES  II.  IN  HOLLAND — NE- 
GOTIATIONS   FOR    THE    COVENANT     IN     SCOTLAND CROMWELL'S 

INVASION KING  CHARLES  AND  THE  COVENANTERS THE  COM- 
PULSORY   TESTS — BECOMES    A     COVENANTED     KING CROMWELL 

AND  LESLIE THE  BATTLE  OF  DUNBAR — ITS  CONCLUSIVE  IN- 
FLUENCE  CROMWELL     AND     THE     COVENANTING     PARTY THE 

START THE    CORONATION THE    MARCH  INTO     ENGLAND THE 

BATTLE   OF  WORCESTER TAKING   OF   THE    SCOTS    FORTRESSES — 

FATE  OF  DUNDEE — MONK — ORGANISATION  OF  GOVERNMENT  IN 
SCOTLAND COURTS  OF  LAW — CLOSING  OF  THE  GENERAL  AS- 
SEMBLY  INCORPORATING  UNION NAVIGATION  LAWS  AND  FREE- 
TRADE — ABOLITION    OF  THE    FEUDAL    SYSTEM REPORT   ON   THE 

SHIPPING  AND  REVENUE  OF  SCOTLAND — GLENCAIRN's  EXPEDI- 
TION— CONCLUSION    OF   THE    PROTECTORATE. 

The  king's  execution  was  followed  by  another  nearly 
as  important  to  Scotland.  The  Duke  of  Hamilton 
was  arraigned  before  the  same  High  Court  of  Justice 
which  had  just  dealt  with  the  king.  His  character  and 
the  motives  of  his  actions  were  throughout  involved  in 
a  strange  mystery  ;  and  it  seemed  to  be  the  fate  of  his 
house  ever  to  be  an  enigma,  whether  from  the  actual 
character  of  the   men   themselves,  or  the   suspicions 


EXECUTION    OF    HAMILTON,    1649.  253 

which  the  world  naturally  held  about  the  motives  of 
those  who  were  by  pedigree  so  peculiarly  situated.^ 
It  is  an  incident  which  scarcely  connects  itself  with 
wider  historical  events,  that  he  was  for  some  time 
under  such  suspicion  at  Court,  that  he  was  detained 
in  one  prison  after  another,  until  in  1646,  after  nearly 
two  years  of  such  detention,  he  was  released  from  St 
Michael's  Mount,  in  Cornwall,  when  it  was  taken  by 
the  Parliamentary  army.  His  arraignment  was  for 
the  invasion  ending  in  the  treaty  of  Uttoxeter.  The 
indictment  furnishes  a  touch  of  curious  pedantry  in 
calling  him  by  no  other  name  than  Earl  of  Cambridge 
— an  English  title  conferred  on  him  when  he  was  raised 
in  1643  from  a  marquisate  to  a  dukedom.  The  charge 
against  the  Earl  of  Cambridge  was,  that  he  had  traitor- 
ously invaded  England  in  hostile  manner,  "  and  levied 
war  to  assist  the  king  against  the  kingdom  and  people 
of  England  ;  and  had  committed  sundry  murders,  out- 
rages, rapines,  wastes,  and  spoils  upon  the  said  people." 
He  pleaded  that  he  had  acted  by  command  of  the 
supreme  authority  of  his  own  country,  Scotland — an 
independent  kingdom.  Further,  that  he  was  born 
before  the  union  of  the  crowns,  and  as  he  had  not  the 
privileges,  so  he  had  not  the  responsibilities,  of  an 
English  subject.  Being  thus  a  foreign  invader,  he 
had  capitulated  according  to  the  usages  of  war  between 
enemies,  and  had  been  accepted  to  quarter.  He  there- 
fore held  that  every  English  tribunal  was  bound  by 
the  articles  of  the  treaty  of  Uttoxeter,  which  promised 
safety  to  his  life.  There  was  much  arguing  on  these 
pleas,  which  of  course  came  to  nothing.  It  may  be 
noted,  that  had  his  trial  been  in  Scotland,  he  would, 

'  See  above,  chap.  Ixx. 


254  COMMONWEALTH. 

according  to  usage,  have  probably  pleaded  that  he 
was  acting  for  the  king.  But  to  plead  such  authority 
before  the  tribunal  which  had  just  put  that  king 
to  death,  would  have  been  a  stretch  even  on  the 
habitual  use  to  which  his  enemies  applied  the  sanc- 
tion of  his  name.  Hamilton  was  executed  on  the 
9th  of  March  1649,  meeting  his  fate  with  heroic 
calmness.^ 

A  third  death,  which  at  other  times  would  have  held 
a  conspicuous  place  among  events  in  Scotland,  comes, 
like  Hamilton's,  as  a  mere  secondary  incident,  over- 
shadowed by  the  great  tragedy  of  the  day.  The  Com- 
mittee of  Estates  had  got  possession  of  their  steady 
and  long-sought  enemy  Huntly  early  in  March  of 
1647.  Just  a  week  after  the  execution  of  Hamilton — 
on  the  16th  of  March  1649 — he  was  brought  to  trial. 
Nothing  could  be  more  easily  proved  tha.n  his  "  trea- 
son "  before  those  who  counted  war  in  the  king's  name 
against  the  Covenant  to  be  treason,  and  he  was  be- 
headed on  the  22d.  Had  the  Committee  of  Estates 
thirsted  for  the  king's  blood,  the  death  of  his  cham- 
pion would  have  been  the  natural  result  of  an  excite- 
ment born  of  sanguinary  sympathies.  Professing,  as 
they  did,  to  hold  the  king's  execution  as  a  crime,  one 
would  have  naturally  expected  that  the  event  would 
give  a  pause  to  their  hostile  vehemence ;  but  they 
were  not  to  be  influenced  by  sympathies  or  shadows, 
and  would  do  their  own  work,  whatever  the  rest  of 
the  world  might  be  about. 

To  the  modified  character  of  the  grief  and  resent- 
ment bestowed  by  the  Scots  on  the  fate  of  the  king, 
there   was   at   least   one    exception.     Since    the  time 

1  State  Trials,  iv.  1155. 


CAPTURE  AND  EXECUTION  OF  MONTROSE,   1649.     255 

when  Montrose  sliowed  in  his  brilliant  little  campaign 
how  much  he  could  accomplish  with  small  means,  his 
ardour  had  been  cherished  in  the  sunshine  of  the 
Court.     He  was  urged  by  the  young  prince,  in  no 
generous  or  even  upright  spirit,  as  we  shall  find,  to 
strike  for  the  cause  of  royalty.     But  his  acts  were  less 
those  of  a  man  struggling  for  a  living  cause  with 
means  offering  probable   success,  than  the  desperate 
efforts  of  one  stricken  with  grief  and  rage.      As  he 
proclaimed  in  some  passionate  verses  written  for  the 
occasion,  he  went  as  the  avenger  of  wrong  and  the 
champion  of  the  fame  of  the  illustrious  victim.     He 
followed  the  old  impulse  of  chivalry  in  so  far  as  it 
disdained  any  estimate  of  the  capacity  to  accomplish 
a  design,  but  rushed  to  the  hopeless  charge  as  a  type 
of  the  champion's  courage  and  devotion.     There  was 
something  in  the  invasion  of  Scotland  now  undertaken 
by  him  so  wild  and  unpractical,  that  in  its  utter  desti- 
tution of  prudent  selfishness  it  did  something  to  wipe 
away  whatever  stains   of   cruelty  or   treachery  have 
tended  to  blot  his  name.  His  proj ect  was  inaugurated  by 
much  fussy  diplomacy,  professing  to  discuss  the  great 
assistance  in  men,  money,  and  arms  to  be  provided  by 
foreign  powers.     It  is  said  that  the  bulk  of  the  foreign 
troops  put  at  his  command  were  lost  by  shipwreck. 
However  it  might  be,  the  end  of  the  vast  announce- 
ments of  preparation   was,  that  he  reached   Orkney 
with  some  seven  hundred  men,  chiefly  from  Holstein 
and    Hamburg,   and   fifteen   hundred   stand   of   arms 
given  him  by  the  Queen  of  Sweden.     He  was  not 
likely  to  find  among  the  Orcadians  much  indignation 
about  the  fate  of  a  King  in  London,  or  even  to  find 
many   who  had  ever   heard   of  it.      What   recruits, 


256  COi\niONWEALTH. 

therefore,    he    obtained    among  them  were    probably 
pressed  in  to  serve  by  the  foreigners. 

Thus  slenderly  attended,  he  passed  to  the  mainland. 
If,  as  some  unwise  people  told  him,  he  would  find  the 
north  all  in  a  ferment  and  eager  to  rush  to  his  stand- 
ard, he  was  cruelly  disappointed.     An  overwhelming 
foi'ce  was  sent  against  him  under  Leslie.     Had  the 
two  forces  met,  there  had  been  no  material  for  a  battle ; 
but  it  happened  that  the  little  band  under  Montrose 
only  encountered  a  small  detachment  under  Strachan. 
The  place  where  they  met  was  Invercharron,  on  the 
northern  border  of  Ross-shire,  to  the  westward  of  the 
present  railway-station  of  Bonar  Bridge.     Montrose 
seems  to  have  had  the  larger  force  of  the  two ;  but  it 
was  incongruously  made  up  of  foreigners,  undrilled 
Orcadians,  and  just  a  sprinkling  of  gentlemen  Cava- 
liers trained  in  the  civil  wars.     He  tried  to  gain  a  pass, 
where  he  might  have  held  out  until  the  main  body  of 
his  enemies  arrived,  but  his  party  was  broken  and  dis- 
persed before  he  reached  it.     He  escaped  in  the  con- 
fusion, and,  turning  northwards,  swam  the  Kyle,  an 
estuary  separating  Ross  from  Sutherland,  and  wandered 
up  Strath  Oikil  into  the  higher  mountain-ranges  of 
the  west.      He  was  accompanied  by  Lord  Kinnoul, 
and  both  were  disguised  as  inhabitants  of  the  country. 
They  suffered  from  hunger  and  from  cold,  for  April 
was  not  yet  over  ;  and  as  Kinnoul  never  reappeared, 
he  no  doubt  died  of  his  miseries.     Montrose  himself 
was  taken  by  Macleod  of  Assynt,  at  the  head  of  a 
party  in  search  of  him. 

He  Avas  removed  to  Edinburgh,  where  of  course  he 
had  to  expect  no  mercy.  It  is  between  those  who 
remain  true  to  a  cause  and  those  who  break  from  it 


EXECUTION    OF    MONTROSE,    1650.  257 

tliat  political  hatred  finds  growth  for  its  direst  strength. 
The  more  thorough  the  refugee's  belief  in  the  honesty 
of  his  motives,  the  deeper  is  his  enmity  against  his  old 
companions.  They  and  their  cause  have  bitterly  de- 
ceived him.  He  joined  it,  believing  that  it  would 
work  to  certain  good  results  beloved  of  his  own  heart ; 
but  he  has  found  that  he  was  wrong  in  that  belief, 
and  the  guilt  all  lies  on  those  whom  he  has  cast  off. 
They  in  their  turn  give  hate  for  hate.  The  deserter, 
traitor,  renegade,  apostate,  or  whatever  other  name  he 
may  be  called  by,  has  no  claim  to  the  courtesies  due 
to  the  consistent  and  natural  enemy.  To  Huntly, 
Haddo,  Airlie,  and  their  kind.  Papists  and  Prelatists, 
something  was  due  that  could  not  be  granted  to  him 
who  had  stood  foremost  for  the  Covenant,  and  had 
banded  a  horde  of  cut-throat  savages  against  the  Cove- 
nanters. He  might  plead  conscientious  conviction ; 
he  might  say  he  went  with  his  friends  of  the  Cove- 
nant until  he  found  them  choosing  devious  courses, 
— still  he  was  the  man  who  had  appeared  foremost 
among  the  children  of  God,  and  was  now  serving 
under  his  true  master  the  devil. 

In  the  natural  course  of  political  cause  and  effect, 
death  was  his  portion ;  and  it  is  an  idle  waste  of  words 
to  reproach  those  who,  in  fulfilling  that  fate,  could 
not  only  justify  themselves,  but  plead  the  command 
of  political  duty.  It  is  likely  enough  that  the  tragedy 
was  not  performed  in  good  taste,  and  that  ribaldries 
and  humiliations  unsuited  to  so  solemn  an  occasion 
were  heaped  upon  the  victim.  But  these  are  accusa- 
tions about  which,  as  about  floating  scandals,  it  is  well 
not  to  indulge  in  much  comment  and  discussion.  To 
cast  humiliation  on  the  fallen  enemy  was  an  ungrace- 

VOL.  VII.  E 


258  COMMONWEALTH. 

ful  habit  of  the  day  in  which  the  Covenanters  took 
their  Ml  share.  But  to  exaggerate,  and  sometimes  to 
invent,  stories  of  such  humiliations,  was  another  prac- 
tice of  the  age,  and  it  is  sometimes  well  to  leave  the 
one  to  neutralise  the  other. 

We  have  official  acknowledgment  of  another  and 
more  solemn  kind  of  persecution  inflicted  by  those 
who  believed  themselves  to  be  engaged  in  a  work  of 
love  and  duty.  Thus  it  is  recorded  how  "  the  com- 
mission of  the  General  Assembly  doth  appoint  Messrs 
David  Dickson,  James  Durham,  James  Guthry,  Eobert 
Trail,  Hugh  Mackail,  to  attend  upon  James  Graham 
when  he  is  entered  in  ward  and  upon  the  scaffold,  and 
deal  with  him  to  bring  him  to  repentance,  with  power 
to  them  to  release  him  from  excommunication  if  so  be 
he  shall  subscribe  the  declaration  condescended  upon 
by  the  commission,  containing  an  acknowledgment  of 
his  heinous  and  gross  offences, — otherwise  that  they 
should  not  relax  him."  ^  The  inquisitive  "Wodrow 
got  from  one  who  was  present  during  the  infliction 
so  decreed  a  few  notes  of  what  ]3assed.  Among  the 
heads  of  admonition  and  remonstrance  were  :  "  Some- 
what of  his  natural  temper,  which  was  aspiring  and 
lofty;"  "his  personal  vices,  which  were  too  notorious;" 
"  his  taking  Irish  and  Popish  rebels  and  cut-throats  by 
the  hand,  to  make  use  of  against  his  own  country- 
men." He  did  not  give  these  divines  satisfaction, 
and  they  pronounced  their  j  udgment  through  Guthrie, 
who  said :  "As  we  were  appointed  by  the  commission 
of  the  General  Assembly  to  confer  with  you,  and 
bring  you,  if  it  could  be  attained,  to  some  sense  of 
your  guilt,  so  we  had,  if  we  had  found  you  penitent, 

^  Record  cited,  Napier's  Life  and  Times,  482. 


EXECUTION    OF    MONTROSE,    1650.  259 

power  from  the  said  commission  to  relax  you  from 
the  excommunication  under  'whicli  you  lie.  But  now, 
since  we  find  it  far  otherwise  with  you,  and  that  you 
maintain  your  former  course,  and  all  things  for  which 
that  sentence  is  passed  upon  you,  we  must  with  sad 
hearts  leave  you  under  the  same  until  the  judgment 
of  the  great  God,  under  the  fearful  impression  of  that 
which  is  bound  on  earth  God  will  bind  in  heaven."  ^ 

Notorious  as  the  actions  for  which  he  was  to  suffer 
were,  they  had  to  be  dealt  with  in  form  of  law  by  the 
civil  tribunal.  In  ordinary  circumstances  there  would 
have  been  an  indictment  with  a  circumstantial  history 
of  the  several  acts  of  war,  treason,  and  slaughter ;  and 
evidence  would  have  been  extracted  at  length  to 
prove  that  the  things  had  been  done,  and  to  identify 
"  the  said  James  Graham  "  as  a  person  concerned  in 
the  doing  of  them.  But  this  pedantry  was  obviated 
by  another  and  a  shorter.  He  had  already  been  in- 
dicted to  stand  trial  before  the  Estates  for  his  achieve- 
ments in  1645.  He  had  not  appeared  at  the  bar, 
and  was  accordingly  outlawed  and  forfeited.  This, 
unless  the  Estates  chose  to  withdraw  the  forfeiture, 
left  nothing  to  be  done  but  the  adjustment  of  the 
sentence.  It  saves  the  necessity  of  narrating  the 
method  of  his  execution,  to  give  it  in  the  words  of  an 
"Act  ordaining  James  Graham  to  be  brought  from  the 
Watergate  on  a  cart  bareheaded,  the  hangman  in  his 
livery  covered,  riding  on  the  horse  that  draws  the 
cart — the  prisoner  to  be  bound  to  the  cart  with  a 
rope — to  the  Tolbooth  of  Edinburgh,  and  from  thence 

'  Wodrow  Analecta,  i.  162.  Both  Guthrie,  who  pronounced  the  sen- 
tence, and  his  companion  Mackail,  had  afterwards  to  appear  as  martyrs 
on  the  other  side. 


26o  COMMONWEALTH. 

to  be  brought  to  tbe  Parliament  House,  and  there,  in 
the  place  of  delinquents,  on  his  knees,  to  receive  his 
sentence — viz.,  to  be  hanged  on  a  gibbet  at  the  cross 
of  Edinburgh,  with  his  book  and  declaration  tied  in  a 
rope  about  his  neck,  and  there  to  hang  for  the  space 
of  three  hours  until  he  be  dead ;  and  thereafter  to  be 
cut  down  by  the  hangman,  his  head,  hands,  and  legs 
to  be  cut  off  and  distributed  as  follows — viz.,  his 
head  to  be  affixed  on  an  iron  pin,  and  set  on  the  pin- 
nacle of  the  west  gavel  of  the  new  prison  of  Edin- 
burgh ;  one  hand  to  be  set  on  the  port  of  Perth,  the 
other  on  the  port  of  Stirling ;  one  leg  and  foot  on 
the  port  of  Aberdeen,  the  other  on  the  port  of  Glas- 
gow. If  he  was  at  his  death  penitent  and  relaxed 
from  excommunication,  then  the  trunk  of  his  body  to 
be  interred  by  pioneers  in  the  Greyfriars',  otherwise 
to  be  interred  in  the  Burrow  Muir  by  the  hangman's 
men  under  the  gallows."  ^  He  was  not  relaxed  from 
excommunication.  The  sentence  was  executed  on  the 
25th  of  May  in  the  High  Street  of  Edinburgh.^ 

^  Balfour's  Annals,  Works,  iv.  12.  The  book  to  be  tied  by  a  rope  about 
his  neck  was  the  history  of  liis  triumphs,  by  his  chaplain.  Bishop 
Wishart,  published  in  1648  in  Paris  :  '  De  Rebus,  auspiciis  Caroli  Dei 
gratia  ^IaL;na!  Britannia  Kegis,  sub  imperio  illustrissimi  Jacobi  Moutis- 
rosarum  ^larchionis  Commentarius.' 

-  To  know  that  there  is  an  account  of  the  last  scene  from  the  pen  of 
Argyle  himself  may  excite  a  curiosity  scarcely  to  be  justified  by  its 
perusal.  It  is  written  on  the  very  day  to  his  nephew,  afterwards  his 
son-in-law,  Lord  Lothian.  The  event  chiefly  engrossing  his  attention  is 
the  birth  of  a  daughter,  and  he  is  weary  with  watching  during  the 
critical  period.  Then  he  notes  how  her  "  birthday  is  remarkable  in  the 
tragic  end  of  James  Graham  at  the  cross  "  :  "  He  got  some  resolution 
after  he  came  here  how  to  go  out  of  this  world  ;  but  nothing  at  all  how 
to  enter  into  another,  not  so  much  as  once  humbling  himself  to  pray  at 
all  upon  the  scaffold,  nor  saying  anytliing  on  it  that  he  had  not  repeated 
many  times  before  when  the  ministers  were  with  him.  For  what  may 
concern  the  public  I  leave  it  to  the  public  papers  and  Mr  James  Dai- 
ry mple's  relation." — Note  to  Kirkton's  History,  124;  Lothian  Papers. 


TREATY   WITH    CHARLES    II.,    1650.  261 

Ou  the  17tli  of  March  certain  commissioners  had 
sailed  from  Kirkcaldy  to  confer  with  the  young  king 
in  Holland.  There  was  one  peer,  Lord  Cassilis,  who 
^vith  the  Laird  of  Brodie,  Provost  Jaffery  of  Aberdeen, 
and  the  provost  of  the  small  burgh  of  Irvine,  in  A}-r- 
shire,  represented  the  Estates.  The  Church  was  re- 
presented by  Eobert  Baillie,  another  minister,  and 
a  ruling  elder.  This  deputation  was  not  affluently 
adorned  by  rank  and  station,  and  perhaps  rather  too 
closely  represented  the  position  of  the  ruling  power. 
But  they  were  high  in  confidence  and  singleness  of 
purpose.  The  Government  represented  by  them  had 
been  signally  purified,  and  it  was  no  matter  that  the 
purification  had  cut  off  some  two-thirds  of  its  rank, 
talent,  and  territorial  influence,  with  a  large  share  of 
its  fighting  power.  So  they  went  to  the  Hague  with 
a  "  readiness  to  espouse  the  king's  cause,  if  he  first 
will  espouse  God's  cause."  ^  This,  put  more  specifi- 
cally, meant  that  he  should  take  the  Covenant  with 
its  companion  testimonies,  engage  to  do  his  utmost 
to  enforce  the  whole  Covenanting  system  over  Eng- 
land and  Ireland,  and  join  in  denouncing  the  Engage- 
ment. 

A  miscellaneous  body  of  sympathisers  and  sup- 
porters naturally  crowded  about  the  young  prince  — 
Cavaliers  from  England  and  Scotland,  with  a  few  of 
those  fresh  outcasts  the  Engagers.  For  rank  and 
title  they  were  a  brilliant  court,  yet  the  humble  group 
who  came  from  Scotland  were  the  only  men  among 
them  who  represented  any  established  government. 
These  began  their  mission  somewhat  skilfully  in  a 
speech  by  the  accomplished  Baillie,  containing  matter 

^  Biiillie's  Letters,  iii.  75. 


262  COMMONWEALTH. 

that  must  liavc  been  accc.ptaWo.  "  Wo  do  dcclan;," 
lie  said,  "  wliat  in  our  own  brcant  often  we  have  felt, 
and  generally  in  tlie  people  among  whom  we  live 
have  seen  witli  our  eyes,  ane  mournl'ul  sorrow  for  that 
cxeci'aljlc  and  tragie  j)aJTicide,  winch,  tliough  all  men 
on  earth  should  jiass  over  un(|uesti()ried,  yet  wo 
nothing  doubt  but  tiic  great  Judge  of  the  world  will 
arise  and  plead  against  every  one,  of  what  condition 
soever,  who  have  been  either  authors  or  actors,  or 
cons( inters  or  approvers,  of  that  hardly  expressible 
crime,  which  stamps  and  stigmatises  with  a  new  and 
before  unseen  chara,cter  of  infamy  tlie  face  of  the 
whole  generation  of  sectaries  and  their  adherents 
from  whose  hearts  and  hands  that  vilest  villany  did 
proceed."  ^ 

Avoiding  disa,grceable3  at  this  first  interview,  they 
left  with  liim  a  letter  from  the  commission  of 
Ass(!mbly  which  might  gra,dually  and  gently  unfold 
their  ultimate  objects,  and  delivercsd  to  him  the  raw 
matei-ial  of  future  discussion — "  the  National  Covenant, 
the  Solemn  I^eaguc  and  (Jovcrijint,  the  Directory,  the 
Confession  of  1^'aith,  the  Catechise,  the  Proitositions 
of  Government,  bound  together  in  a  book  so  handsome 
as  we  could  get  thcm."^ 

The  assassination  of  Dorislaus,  and  the  dark  suspi- 
cions thrown  by  it  on  those  who  were  deep  in  the 
confidence  of  the  prince,  disj)erscd  tlie  little  court  at 
the  Hague.  After  an  interval  of  restlessness  it  settled 
down  at  Bnjda,  where  he  was  again  in  a  position  to 
hear  terms  by  the  Government  of  Scotland.  Their 
propositions  were  as  distinct  and  absolute  as  ever. 
Diplomacy,  in  the  usual  acceptation  of  the  tci-m,  there 

1  JiaiUic'H  LcjUom,  ill.  85.  '  Ibid.,  87. 


CHARLES    II.    IN    SCOTLAND,    1650.  263 

was  none — whatever  tlie  king  miglit  say,  the  ultimate 
answer  resolved  itself  into  yea  or  nay.  With  a  sort  of 
cheerful  carelessness  he  adopted  the  affirmative.  To 
every  proposition  setting  down  in  the  hardest  and 
least  ambiguous  words  their  rigid  terms,  there  was 
set  down,  "  His  majesty  doth  consent  to  this  whole 
proposition  in  ter minis." '^  He  was  at  the  same  time 
hounding  ^Montrose  out  on  his  expedition,  and  telling 
him  not  to  believe  a  word  of  any  rumour  that  he  was 
to  accept  of  the  Covenant.  His  iustruction  was :  "  AYe 
require  and  authorise  you  to  proceed  vigorously  in 
your  undertakino',  and  to  act  in  all  thino-s  in  order  to 
it  as  you  shall  judge  most  necessary  for  the  support 
thereof  and  for  our  service  in  that  way.""  There  was 
such  a  banishment  of  all  deliberation,  such  a  prompt 
recklessness  in  this  double-dealing,  that  it  partook  of 
the  nature  of  a  capricious  escapade  when  compared 
with  the  solemn  duplicit)-  of  his  father. 

Escaping  some  danger  from  the  cruisers  of  the 
Eepublic,  the  prince  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Spoy 
on  the  3d  of  July.  Before  he  was  permitted  to 
land,  we  are  told  that  "  his  majesty  signed  both  the 
Covenants,  Xational  and  Solemn,  and  had  notable 
sermons  and  exhortations  made  unto  him  by  the 
ministers  to  persevere  therein."^  He  found  protection 
in  Huntly's  Castle  of  Gight,  where,  although  its 
master  had  just  been  put  to  death,  there  was  a 
garrison.  He  went  on  by  Aberdeen  to  the  Earl 
Marischal's  fortress  at  Dunnottar,  and  so  by  Dundee 
and  St  Andrews  to  Falkland  Palace.  Due  investiga- 
tion having  been  made  into  the  character  of  a  gToup 

'  Thnrloe's  State  Papers,  L  147.  "  Clarendon's  State  Papers. 

3  Sir  Edward  Walker's  Journal,  159. 


264  COMMONWEALTH. 

of  courtiers  who  attended  the  prince,  it  was  discovered 
with  alarm  that  they  consisted  of  English  Malignants, 
and  of  Scots  who  were  either  JMalignants  or  Engagers. 
They  were  all  dispersed  with  the  exception  of  a  small 
select  group.  Among  these  was  Buckingham  —  a 
singular  exception  to  the  general  disqualiiication, 
suggesting  that  he  had  successfully  tried  his  powers 
of  mimicry,  and  passed  himself  oif  as  a  child  of 
grace. 

This  royal  progress,  sordid  and  unhopeful  tliough  it 
might  be,  was  sufficient  to  alarm  the  Council  of  State 
at  AVhitehall,  and  it  was  determined  to  send  a  force 
under  Cromwell  to  stop  it.     On  the  16th  of  July  he 
crossed  the  Tweed  with  an  army  of  sixteen  thousand 
men,  trained  veterans,   and  strong  in  artillery  and 
cavalry.     Cromwell  was  fresh  from  his  bloody  career 
in  Ireland.     We  now  know  that  he  would  not  have 
dealt  with  the  Lowland  Scots  as  with  the  Celts — the 
etiquette  of  war  forbade  it.     But  the  fame  of  the  acts 
he  had  committed  naturally  spread  terror  among  the 
peasantry  not  fully  instructed  in  the  exclusion  of  a 
population  like  the  Irish  from  the  courtesies  of  war. 
The  general  alarm  joining  with  a  spirit  of  loyalty, 
and  a  strong  antipathy  to  the  "  sectaries,"  j)roduced 
perhaps  the  oddest  effect  ever  occasioned  by  conditions 
of  danger.     A  large  body  had  flocked,  as  of  old,  to  the 
national  standard.     Among  these  it  was  discovered  by 
the  predominant  party  that  there  were  many  Malig- 
nants   and    other    persons    excluded    by   the    Act   of 
Classes.     They  must  be  rid  of  these  if  their  enterprise 
was    not    to    be    fundamentally   cursed.      Thus   they 
drove  away,  as  an  astonished  looker-on  tells  us,  four 
thousand  men,  and  these,  as  old  experienced  soldiers. 


Cromwell's  invasion,  1650.  265 

the  best  in  their  army.^  After  this  purification  they 
experienced  such  relief  and  self-reliance  as  a  man 
heretofore  in  evil  health  may  feel  when  his  constitu- 
tion has  proved  sound  enough  to  discard  some  depress- 
ing morbid  symptom.  Some  territorial  potentates 
offered  to  bring  forth  their  followers  as  independent 
auxiliaries,  but  as  they  belonged  to  the  excluded 
classes  their  co-operation  was  sternly  abjured.  An- 
other element  of  danger,  too,  must  be  removed,  for  the 
absolute  purification  of  that  host  —  the  young  man 
Charles  Stewart.  True,  they  had  engaged  with  him 
to  be  their  Covenanted  kins;,  and  it  mig-ht  be  said  that 
they  were  going  to  fight  for  his  cause.  But  a  heavy 
burden  lay  upon  his  race  in  the  sins  of  his  father  and 
the  idolatry  of  his  mother.  For  himself,  he  had  not 
yet  been  tried.  It  might  be  that  he  was  to  become 
the  king  who  would  rule  over  them.  But  in  the  mean 
time,  when  God  was  to  decide  between  them  and  the 
sectaries,  it  was  not  safe  to  retain  such  a  possible 
cause  of  wrath  in  their  camp,  and  he  was  compelled 
to  retire. 

Old  Leven  was  commander  of  the  army,  but  so  far 
as  the  arm  of  the  flesh  was  entitled  to  reliance  it  was 
on  his  nephew  David.  The  strategy  adopted  was  to 
make  the  Border  districts  a  desert,  as  in  the  old  wars 
with  England ;  and  the  terror  following  Cromwell's 
Irish  war  made  it  easy  to  get  the  people  to  co-operate 
in  such  a  policy.  It  was  easy  to  persuade  all  of  them 
who  were  sound  Covenanters  that  there  could  be  no 
madness  or  villany  of  which  the  army  "  of  sectaries 
and  blasphemers"  was  incapable ;  and  those  of  the 
Borderers  who  were  Cavaliers   and    Royalists  would 

1  Walker,  165. 


266  COMMONWEALTH. 

scarcely  welcome  the  invaders.  It  was  to  no  purpose 
tliat  the  general  issued  a  proclamation  "  to  all  that 
are  saints  and  partakers  of  the  faith  of  God's  elect 
in  Scotland  "■ — this  would  only  pass  for  blasphemous 
mockery  in  those  that  were  coming  to  strike  the  real 
saints  with  the  edge  of  the  sword.  The  Scots  might 
have  easily  fortified  Cockburnspath  and  the  other  deep 
gorges  running  from  the  Lammermuir  Hills  to  the 
sea,  but  Cromwell  was  too  prompt  for  them.  Never 
in  any  of  the  invasions  of  Scotland  was  this  strong 
position  held — a  position  about  which  Cromwell  him- 
self expressively,  though  not  in  very  good  English, 
said,  "  Ten  men  to  hinder  is  better  than  forty  to 
make."  It  afforded  this  advantage,  that  an  army 
crossing  the  flat  elevated  plain  through  which  these 
gorges  cut,  Avould,  if  they  were  held  by  ever  so  small 
a  force,  have  to  make  a  flank-march  over  a  tract  of 
hill  and  moorland  where  there  were  no  roads.  For 
the  first  time  we  hear,  after  Cromwell  had  passed  them, 
of  these  points  of  defence  being  guarded,  and  it  was 
for  the  purpose,  rendered  unnecessary,  of  intercepting 
his  retreat  back  to  England. 

Of  the  two  armies  thus  drawing  to  a  conclusion 
with  each  other,  the  one  did  not  entirely  consist  of  Eng- 
lishmen or  the  other  of  Scotsmen;  but  the  spirit  of 
England  and  Scotland  were  severally  represented  in 
them.  In  both  there  was  much  of  what  might  be 
called  piety,  zeal,  or  fanaticism,  according  to  the  hu- 
mour of  the  person  criticising  ;  and  some  maintained 
that  in  both  there  was  a  strong  leaven  of  hypocrisy. 
The  seriously  religious,  both  in  England  and  Scotland, 
were  broken  up  into  various  groujjs,  with  elements  of 
difference  great  or  small.     But  the  effect  of  this  diver- 


Cromwell's  invasion,  1650.  267 

gence  was  curiously  different  in  the  two  countries.  In 
Scotland  one  party  was  strong  enough  to  stand  aloof, 
taking  all  the  power  of  Church,  State,  and  army  into 
its  hands,  and  driving  forth  all  who  would  not  accept 
its  articles  of  faith  and  Church  o-overnmeut  to  the 
utmost.  In  Euo-land,  on  the  other  hand,  the  "  bound- 
less  toleration"  ao;ainst  which  the  Scots  railed  so 
vehemently,  united  all  together  in  one  compact  mass 
for  civil  and  military  purposes. 

The  contest  that  was  becoming  inevitable  was 
eminently  critical.  Had  the  issue  of  the  battle  been 
reversed,  the  change  on  the  face  of  history  is  not 
exactly  to  be  defined ;  but  that  it  would  have  been  a 
great  change  is  beyond  a  doubt.  It  was  a  crisis  on 
which  mighty  interests  centred.  Two  generals  who 
had  never  been  beaten  were  to  face  each  other,  and 
the  character  of  invincibility  was  inevitably  to  be  lost 
by  one  of  them.  Such  was  the  position  in  a  mere 
human  and  worldly  sense,  but  to  the  far-seeing  the 
issues  were  infinitely  grander.  Of  two  hosts,  each 
professing  to  be  the  Lord's  chosen  people,  the  time 
was  at  hand  when  He  should  choose  between  them  by 
giving  the  victory  to  His  own.  There  was  no  doubt 
that  the  victors  would  settle  the  question  in  their  own 
favour,  however  the  other  party  might  take  their 
defeat. 

That  they  might  be  prepared  for  this  ordeal,  the 
Scots  continued  earnest  in  their  purification,  and  the 
discharge  from  their  host  of  all  dangerous  elements. 
They  had  already  got  rid  of  a  few  thousand  soldiers 
whose  faith  was  doubtful.  But  they  were  in  sore 
perplexity  touching  the  young  man  Charles  Stewart^ 
as  not  knowing  what  might  be  the  influence  on  them- 


268  COMMONWEALTH. 

selves  of  his  dubious  early  life,  the  ecclesiastical  sins 
of  his  father,  aud  his  mother's  idolatry.  A  proclama- 
tiou  had  been  issued  in  his  name,  in  which  he  pro- 
mised to  fulfil  all  that  ever  had  been  demanded  of  his 
father,  announcing  that  "  the  Lord  hath  been  pleased 
in  His  gracious  goodness  and  tender  mercy  to  discover 
to  his  majesty  the  great  evil  of  the  ways  wherein  he 
hath  been  formerly  led  by  wicked  counsel."  ^ 

Against  this  document,  issued  without  his  consent, 
he  demurred.  There  was  immediate  indignation  and 
alarm  in  the  camp.  It  was  a  question  whether  the 
army  should  break  up  and  disperse,  or  make  terms 
with  the  sectaries.  They  sent  a  "remonstrance  and 
supplication"  to  the  Committee  of  Estates,  setting 
forth  that,  "being  sensible  of  the  imputation  laid 
upon  the  kingdom  and  army  as  if  they  espoused  the 
Malignant  quarrel  and  interest,  and  considering  that 
at  this  time  we  are  more  especially  concerned  in  it 
than  others,  beiuo-  in  the  Lord's  streno'th  to  take  our 
lives  in  our  hands  and  hazard  all  that  is  dear  unto  us 
by  engaging  against  the  present  enemy,  who  in  a 
hostile  Avay  hath  invaded  this  kingdom,  contrary  to 
all  bonds  of  covenants  and  treaties, — we  conceive  it  our 
duty  to  make  it  manifest  to  their  honours  and  all  the 
world  that  we  do  not  own  any  Malignant  quarrel  or 
interest  of  any  person  or  j)ersons  whatsoever,  but  that 
by  the  assistance  of  the  Lord  we  resolve  to  fight 
merely  upon  the  former  grounds  and  principles  in 
defence  of  the  cause  of  Covenant  and  kingdom."  Still 
the  old  decorum  was  preserved  of  abstaining  from 
accusation  against  royalty  itself,  and  charging  all  on 
pernicious   counsel.      They  desired    the    accomplish- 

1  Walker,  163. 


THE    COVENANTERS    AND    CHARLES    II.,    1650.      269 

ment  of  "  what  remains  in  the  army  undone  in  rela- 
tion to  purging,"  "  that  God  be  no  more  provoked 
by  countenancing  or  sparing  of  them,  lest  the  Lord 
should  desert  us  and  cause  us  to  partake  with  them 
in  their  judgments."  ^ 

A  declaration  was  prepared,  in  which  all  that  had 
offended  the  young  king  in  the  proclamation  was  set 
forth  more  broadly  and  offensively.  This  he  must  sign. 
It  was  noticed  at  the  time,  that  it  was  presented  to  him 
in  that  same  Gowrie  House  Avhere  his  grandfather  had 
encountered  so  much  peril.  His  advisers  bade  him 
sign  it  at  once — sign  everything.  They  were  like 
persons  in  the  hands  of  a  set  of  madmen.  He  must 
do  whatever  he  was  bidden  or  all  was  lost.  Some 
few  expressions  were  permitted  to  be  altered  so  far 
as  to  soften  their  accusative  tenor  and  bring  them 
into  the  category  of  calamities  rather  than  crimes. 
By  a  very  happy  thought  a  sentence  was  inscribed 
attributing  the  misfortunes  which  had  befallen  the 
royal  house  as  well  as  the  faithful  kingdom  of  Scot- 
land to  the  malice  of  the  sectaries. 

The  "  declaration "  is  a  lengthy  document,  for  it 
was  the  work  of  men  determined  to  leave  nothins' 
ambiguous  or  uncertain.  Whoever  accepted  it  could 
never  afterwards  plead  that  he  had  misinterpreted  its 
full  scope.  The  preamble  or  text,  setting  forth  the 
principle  to  which  the  working  details  tended,  was  in 
these  words :  "  He  doth  now  detest  and  abhor  all 
Popery,  superstition,  and  idolatry,  together  with  Pre- 
lacy, and  all  errors,  heresy,  schism,  and  profaneness ; 
and  resolves  not  to  tolerate,  much  less  allow  of  those 
in  any  part  of  his  majesty's  dominions,  but  to  oppose 

1  Walker,  167,  368. 


270  COMMONWEALTH. 

himself  thereto,  and  endeavour  the  extwpation  thereof 
to  the  utmost  of  his  power."  ^  As  to  the  army  of 
sectaries  now  approaching,  the  Committee  of  Estates 
and  the  Assembly  "having  sufficiently  laid  open 
public  dangers  and  duties  both  upon  the  right  hand 
and  upon  the  left,  it  is  not  needful  for  his  majesty  to 
add  anything  thereto  except  that  in  those  things  he 
doth  commend  and  approve  them,  and  that  he  resolves 
to  live  and  die  with  them  and  his  loyal  subjects  in 
prosecution  of  the  ends  of  the  Covenant."  ^ 

One  small  ceremony  yet  remained  to  fill  the  cup. 
The  king  having  signed  all  the  protestations  and  ob- 
jurgations presented  to  him,  it  was  needful  for  him  to 
express  how  he  was  "  desirous  to  be  humbled  for  the 
sins  of  the  royal  family  and  for  his  own  sins,  that  God 
may  be  reconciled  unto  him ;  and  that  he  may  give 
evidence  of  his  real  loathing  of  his  former  ways,  and 
of  his  sincerity  in  his  owning  the  cause  of  God  and 
the  work  of  reformation."  ^  To  this  desirable  end  a 
public  day  of  fasting  and  humiliation  was  to  be  held, 
and  he  was  to  be  the  hero  of  the  occasion. 

In  the  grotesque  audacity  of  such  professions  we 
can  imagine  that  there  must  have  been  something 
infinitely  droll  and  exhilarating  to  such  spirits  as 
Buckingham  and  Wilmot,  when  they  discussed  it  in 
after-times,  away  from  that  dreary  land  where  their 
mirthful  communings  with  the  prince  were  rudely  re- 
strained. As  for  him,  there  was  just  one  element  of 
sincerity  planted  in  his  heart  by  reflecting  on  the  part 
he  had  been  induced  to  play — a  sincere  detestation  of 
those  who  had  driven  him  to  such  humiliation. 

And  after  all  was  done,  the  pui'gation  was  not  so 

1  Walker,  172.  "  Ibid.,  175.  »  Ibid.,  178. 


THE    COVENANTERS   AND    CHARLES    II.,    1650.      271 

complete  as  to  make  a  full  intercommuning  safe. 
They  would  not  have  the  young  man  Charles  Stewart 
within  their  host  at  the  critical  moment.  Their  feel- 
ing seems  to  have  been,  that  although  all  were  false, 
they  might  be  justified  in  holding  it  to  be  true  until 
they  found  evidence  to  the  contrary — ^justified  in  not 
departing  from  the  course  they  had  adopted  in  resist- 
ing the  sectaries  with  a  view  of  supporting  him  if  he 
continued  true  ;  but  the  having  him,  possibly  false 
and  perjured,  in  their  actual  host  on  the  day  of  battle, 
might  be  too  dangerous — it  would  be  tempting  the 
vengeance  of  heaven  too  rashly.^  They  were  like 
men  who  theoretically  believe  an  arrangement  to  be 
safe,  but  shrink  when  they  have  to  trust  their  lives  to 
it.  Therefore  he  was  banished  from  the  army  and 
detained  in  courteous  restraint  in  Dunfermline.  Be- 
hind all  these  scrupulous  arrangements  there  lingered 
a  suspicion  that  the  "  purgation  "  of  the  Scots  army 
was  far  aAvay  from  completeness.  Cromwell's  men 
were  united  in  a  zealous  purpose,  as  that  army  had 
been  which  Leslie  carried  across  the  Tweed  ten  years 


1  Cromwell  tells  us  how  "  some  of  the  honestest  in  the  army  among 
the  Scots  did  profess  hefore  the  fight  that  they  did  not  believe  their 
king  in  his  declaration ;  and  it's  most  evident  he  did  sign  it  with  as 
much  reluctancy  and  so  much  against  his  heart  as  could  be,  and  yet 
they  venture  their  lives  for  him  on  this  account,  and  publish  this  declara- 
tion to  the  world  to  be  believed  as  the  act  of  a  person  converted,  when 
in  their  hearts  they  know  he  abhorred  the  doing  of  it  and  means  it  not." 
• — Carlyle,  ii.  197.  He  made  a  general  charge  against  the  Estates,  that 
their  difficulties  arose  "  by  espousing  your  king's  interest,  and  taking 
into  your  bosom  that  person  in  whom,  notwithstanding  what  hath  or 
may  be  said  to  the  contrary,  that  which  is  really  Malignancy,  and  all 
Mali"nants  do  centre  ;  against  whose  family  the  Lord  hath  so  eminently 
witnessed  for  blood-guiltiness,  not  to  be  done  away  by  such  hypocritical 
and  formal  shows  of  repentance  as  are  expressed  in  his  late  declaration." 
—Ibid.,  222. 


2/2  COMMONWEALTH. 

earlier.  The  long  contest  had  worn  that  army  thread- 
bare, and  Scotland  was  too  meagrely  peopled  to  supply 
army  after  army  of  from  twenty  to  thirty  thousand 
men.  No  doubt  the  whole  army  subscribed  the  Cov- 
enant, but  the  greater  part  of  them  would  probably 
have  subscribed  anything  else.  The  zeal  was  limited 
to  the  attendant  clergy  and  a  few  of  the  lay  leaders. 
It  seems  to  have  strenothened  the  reasons  for  remov- 
ing  the  young  king  that  he  was  becoming  popular 
among  the  troops.  It  was  noted  that  uj)on  their 
facings  they  marked  with  chalk  the  letter  R  for  rex, 
and  it  was  apprehended  that  a  spirit  of  mere  personal 
loyalty  might  supersede  the  due  devotion  to  Christ's 
crown  and  Covenant.  If  we  may  trust  an  English 
Royalist  onlooker,  their  staft'  of  subordinate  officers 
was  as  wretched  as  it  well  could  be,  "placing  for  the 
most  part  in  command  ministers'  sons,  clerks,  and 
such  other  sanctified  creatures,  who  hardly  ever  saw 
or  heard  of  any  sword  but  that  of  the  Spirit, — and 
with  this,  their  chosen  crew,  made  themselves  sure 
of  victory."  ^ 

Leslie  appeared  to  handle  his  army,  such  as  it  was, 
to  great  purpose.  He  used  the  wonderful  material 
for  a  fortified  camp  supplied  by  the  heights  near 
Edinburgh.  It  was  desirable  to  keep  both  Edinburgh 
and  Leith  united  within  the  fortified  line,  that  Crom- 
well might  not  have  access  to  the  sea  by  seizing  the 
port  of  Leith.  This  line  of  defence,  beginning  at  the 
Firth  to  the  eastward  of  Leith,  kept  the  successive 
heights  of  Hermitage  Hill,  Hawkhill,  Restalrig,  the 
Calton  Hill,  Salisbury  Crags,  and  St  Leonards,  until 
it  came  under  the  protection  of  the  guns  of  the  castle. 

'  Walker,  162-04. 


Cromwell's  invasion,  1650.  273 

There  were  some  small  affairs  of  outposts,  but  nothing 
that  Cromwell  could  do  would  draw  Leslie  out  of  his 
strong  lair.  One  of  these  is  thus  described  by  the  great 
Cromwell  himself,  on  the  occasion  of  his  retiring  to 
]\Iusselburgh,  where  his  headquarters  were :  "  We  came 
to  Musselburgh  that  night,  so  tired  and  wearied  for 
want  of  sleep,  and  so  dirty  by  reason  of  the  wetness 
of  the  weather,  that  we  expected  the  enemy  would 
make  an  onfall  upon  us  ;  which  accordingly  they  did 
between  three  and  four  of  the  clock  this  morning, 
with  fifteen  of  their  most  select  troops,  under  the 
command  of  Major-General  Montgomery  and  Strachan, 
two  champions  of  the  Church,  upon  which  business 
there  was  great  hope  and  expectation  laid.  The 
enemy  came  on  with  a  great  deal  of  resolution,  beat 
in  our  guards,  and  put  a  regiment  of  horse  in  some 
disorder ;  but  our  men,  speedily  taking  the  alarm, 
charged  the  enemy,  routed  them,  took  many  prisoners, 
killed  a  great  many  of  them,  did  execution  to  within 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  Edinburgh."  "  This  is  a  sweet 
beginning  of  your  business,  or  rather  the  Lord's,  and 
I  believe  is  not  very  satisfactory  to  the  enemy,  especi- 
ally to  the  Kirk  party."  "  I  did  not  think  advisable 
to  attempt  upon  the  enemy,  lying  as  he  doth ;  but 
surely  this  would  sufficiently  provoke  him  to  fight  if 
he  had  a  mind  to  it.  I  do  not  think  he  is  less  than 
six  or  seven  thousand  horse  and  fourteen  or  fifteen 
thousand  foot.  The  reason  I  hear  that  they  give  out 
to  their  people  why  they  do  not  fight  us  is,  because 
they  expect  many  bodies  of  men  out  of  the  north  of 
Scotland,  which  when  they  come  they  give  out  they 
will  then  engage.  But  I  believe  they  would  rather 
tempt  us  to   attempt  them  in  their  fastness  within 

VOL.  VIJ.  s 


274  COMMONWEALTH. 

which  they  are  intrenchcel,  or  else  hoping  we  shall 
famish  for  want  of  provisions,  which  is  very  likely  to 
be  if  we  be  not  timely  and  fully  supplied."^ 

On  another  occasion,  retiring  towards  the  camp  at 
Musselburgh,   "  the   enemy  perceiving  it,  and,  as  we 
conceive,  fearing  we  might  interpose   between   them 
and    Edinburgh,    though    it    was    not    our    intention 
albeit   it    seemed    so  by  our   march,   retreated   back 
again  with  all  haste,  having  a  bog  and  pass  between 
them  and  us."     "  That  night  we   quartered  within  a 
mile  of  Edinburgh  and  of  the  enemy.     It  was  a  most 
tempestuous  night  and   wet  morning.       The  enemy 
marched  in  the  night  between  Leith  and  Edinburgh, 
to  interpose  between  us  and  our  victual,  they  know- 
ing that  it  was  spent.     But  the  Lord  in  mercy  pre- 
vented it.     And  we  perceiving  in  the  morning,  got 
time  enough,  through  the  goodness  of  the  Lord,  to 
the  sea-side  to  revictual,  the  enemy  being  drawn  up 
upon  the  hill  near  Arthur  Seat,  looking  upon  us  but 
not  attempting  anything."^     The  hill  "  near"  Arthur 
Seat  must  have  been  the  hill  itself  so  called.     From 
the  top  and  eastern  slope  of  Arthur  Seat  all  the  move- 
ments of  Cromwell's  army  through  the  flat  country 
towards  Musselburgh  must  have  been  distinctly  seen. 
More  than  a  month  passed  in  this  fashion,  yet  Leslie 
would   not   trust    his    imperfect   army   to  a   battle. 
Cromwell  shifted  his  place  on  a  radius  of  six  miles 
from  Edinburgh,  at  one  time  going  as  far  west  as 
Colinton.     Still  Leslie  either  hovered   above  him,  or 
if  he  took  the  high  ground,  was  safe  on  some  other 
eminence.       The  end  seemed   inevitable  —  Cromwell 
must  either  be  starved  into  submission,  or  must  force 

1  Carlyle,  ii.  164,  165.  -  Ibid.,  176. 


BATTLE    OF    DUNBAR,    1650.  275 

his  way  back,  with  the  certainty  that  he  would  carry 
with  him  but  a  fragment  of  his  fine  army.  At  the 
end  of  August  he  removed  to  Dunbar.  Here  he  had 
the  command  of  the  sea  for  provisions  and  munitions, 
and  for  the  removal  of  his  troops  were  there  shipping 
enough  at  his  disposal.  All  along  the  east  coast  there 
is  a  bank  or  line  of  elevated  ground,  the  first  slopes  of 
the  Lammermuirs  or  other  chains  of  Border  mountains. 
Along  these  slopes  marched  Leslie,  ever  above  his 
enemy  ;  and  when  Cromwell  encamped  at  Dunlaar, 
Leslie  was  still  above  him  on  the  Hill  of  Doon.  The 
eye  of  any  one  visiting  the  neighbourhood  of  Dunbar 
will  at  once  select  this  hill  from  all  others.  It  stands 
forward  from  the  range  of  the  Lammermuirs  like  a 
watch-tower.  It  is  seen  to  unite  the  two  cjualities 
sought  by  Leslie — it  commands  a  view  of  all  the  low 
land  bordering  on  the  sea,  and  it  is  the  centre  roimd 
which  every  movement  of  the  enemy  must  describe  a 
circumference  on  which  his  army  could  descend.  Dun- 
bar itself  was  a  flat  peninsula,  the  hills  at  Leslie's 
command  approaching  the  coast  so  closely  on  the 
south  end  that  there  could  be  no  passage  without  a 
battle  at  disadvantage. 

On  the  2d  of  September  Cromwell  wrote  to 
Haslerig,  who  commanded  at  Newcastle  :  "  We  are 
upon  an  engagement  very  difficult.  The  enemy  hath 
blocked  up  our  way  at  the  pass  at  Copperspath, 
through  which  we  cannot  get  without  almost  a  mir- 
acle. He  lieth  so  upon  the  hills  that  we  know  not 
how  to  come  that  way  without  great  difficulty,  and 
our  lying  here  daily  consumeth  our  men,  who  fall 
sick  beyond  imagination. 

"  I  perceive  your  forces  are  not  in  a  capacity  for 


276  COMMONWEALTH. 

present  release.  Wherefore,  whatever  becomes  of  iis, 
it  will  be  well  for  you  to  get  what  forces  you  can 
together,  and  the  south  to  help  what  they  can.  The 
business  nearly  concerns  all  good  people.  If  your 
forces  had  been  in  a  readiness  to  have  fallen  upon  the 
back  of  Cijpperspath,  it  might  have  occasioned  supplies 
to  have  come  to  us.  But  the  only  wise  God  knows 
what  is  best.  All  shall  work  for  good.  Our  sjjirits 
are  comfortable,  praised  be  the  Lord,  though  our  pre- 
sent condition  be  as  it  is.  And  indeed  we  have  much 
hope  in  the  Lord,  of  whose  mercy  we  have  had  large 
experience."  ^ 

It  was  on  that  very  evening  that,  to  his  surprise 
and  delight,  he  observed  a  movement  in  the  host  on 
Doon  Hill.  They  were  coming  down  into  the  plain ; 
the  movement  lasted  all  night,  and  at  dawn  of  day 
the  Scots  had  relinquished  their  advantage.  It  is  a 
question  whether  in  this  movement  Leslie  acted  on 
his  own  discretion,  or  on  the  dictation  of  the  com- 
mittees from  the  Estates  and  the  Church  who  ham- 
pered his  camp.  To  one  conversant  with  the  spirit 
of  the  times  nothing  seems  more  natural  than  this. 
Cromwell  being  mercifully  delivered  into  their  hands, 
it  was  fitting  that  they  should  stretch  forth  their  hands 
and  accept  of  the  gift.  If  such  views  were  canvassed, 
it  can  easily  be  believed  that  Leslie  could  not  keep  his 
force  together  on  the  mound,  and  must  be  content 
to  do  what  he  could  to  preserve  them  from  destruc- 
tion.^ 

I  Gaily le,  ii.  179,  180. 

^  Burnet  is  the  authority  generally  cited  for  the  interference : 
"  Leslie  was  in  the  chief  conimand  ;  but  he  had  a  committee  of  the 
Estates  to  give  him  his  orders,  among  whom  Warriston  was  one. 
These  were  weary  of  lying  in  the  fields,  and  thought  that  Leslie  made 


BATTLE    OF    DUNBAR,    1650.  277 

There  is  a  brief  account  of  his  calamity  by  David  Les- 
lie himself  in  a  letter  to  Argyle.  If  it  can  be  said  to 
attribute  the  defeat  to  the  interference  of  the  com- 
mittees, the  shape  in  which  this  operated  must  haA'e 

not  haste  enougli  to  destroy  those  sectaries,  for  so  they  came  to  call 
them.  He  told  them  by  lying  there  all  was  sure,  but  that  by  en- 
gaging in  action  with  gallant  and  desperate  men  all  might  be  lost  ;  yet 
they  still  called  on  him  to  fall  on.  Many  have  thought  that  all  this 
was  treachery  done  on  design  to  deliver  up  our  army  to  Cromwell — 
some  laying  it  upon  Leslie,  and  others  upon  my  uncle.  I  am  persuaded 
there  was  no  treachery  in  it,  only  Warriston  was  too  hot  and  Leslie  too 
cold,  and  yielded  too  easily  to  their  humours,  which  he  ought  not  to 
have  done." — Summary  of  Affairs.  It  has  recently  become  a  sort  of 
historical  canon  that  Burnet  is  ever  to  be  discredited.  He  no  doubt 
colours  and  likes  to  make  up  a  good  story ;  but  he  was  honest  "  after  a 
manner " — more  honest,  for  instance,  than  Clarendon.  He  had  good 
means  of  knowing  what  lie  speaks  of  here,  for  the  "  uncle  "  he  refers  to 
was  Warriston. 

Burnet  was  a  child  seven  years  old  when  the  battle  was  fought ;  he 
was  eighteen  years  old  when  his  uncle  Warriston  was  executed.  The 
news  of  the  day  as  told  by  Baillie,  unpublished  in  Burnet's  day,  goes 
far  to  confirm  his  account,  and  affords  a  pathetic  story  of  practical 
genius  thwarted  and  a  cause  ruined  by  self-sufficient  intermeddlers  : 
"  After  the  woeful  rout  at  Dunbar,  in  the  first  meeting  at  Stirling,  it 
was  openly  and  vehemently  pressed  to  have  David  Leslie  laid  a-side,  as 
long  before  was  designed,  but  covertly,  by  the  chief  purgers  of  the 
times.  The  man  himself  did  as  much  press  as  any  to  have  liberty  to 
demit  his  charge,  being  covered  with  shame  and  discouragement  for  his 
late  unhappiness,  and  irritated  with  Mr  James  Guthrie's  public  invec- 
tives against  him  from  the  pulpit.  The  most  of  the  commission  of 
Estates  and  committee  of  the  Kirk  would  have  been  content  to  let  him 
go ;  but  finding  no  man  tolerably  able  to  supply  his  place,  and  the 
greatest  part  of  the  remaining  oflicers  of  horse  and  foot  peremptor  to 
lay  down  if  he  continued  not — and  after  all  trials  finding  no  malad- 
ministration on  him  to  count  of  but  the  removal  of  the  army  from  the 
hill  the  night  before  the  rout,  \\hich  yet  was  a  consequence  of  the 
committee's  order,  contrar  to  his  mind,  to  stop  the  enemy's  retreat,  and 
for  that  end  to  storm  Brocksmouth  House  as  soon  as  possible, — on  these 
considerations  the  State  unanimously  did  with  all  earnestness  entreat  him 
to  keep  still  his  charge.  Against  this  order  my  Lord  Warriston,  and,  I 
suppose.  Sir  John  Chiesly,  did  enter  their  dissent.  I  am  sure  Mr  James 
Guthrie  did  his,  at  which,  as  a  great  impertinence,  many  were  offended." 
— Letters,  &c.,  iii.  111.  Sir  Edward  Walker  does  not  mention  the  inter- 
ference of  the  committees  on  this  occasion,  but  on  another  he  refers 


278  COMMONWEALTH. 

l)een  in  weakening  the  sense  of  obedience  and  dis- 
cipline in  the  subordinate  commanders  :  "  Concerning 
the  misfortune  of  our  army  I  shall  say  nothing  but  it 
was  the  visible  hand  of  God,  with  our  own  laikness, 
and  not  of  man  that  defeat  them,  notwithstanding 
of  orders  given  to  stand  to  their  arms  that  night.  I 
know  I  got  my  own  share  of  the  fall  by  many  for 
drawing  them  so  near  the  enemy,  and  must  suffer 
for  this  as  many  times  formerly,  though  I  take  God 
to  witness  we  might  have  as  easily  beaten  them  as  we 
did  James  Graham  at  Philiphaugh,  if  the  officers  had 
stayed  by  their  troops  and  regiments."-^ 

Cromwell  had  at  hand  two  men  whose  fame  as 
soldiers  Avas  second  only  to  his  own  —  Monk  and 
Lambert.  The  three  watched  Leslie's  movement  as 
well  as  they  could,  for  to  conceal  it  as  well  as  he 
might  he  had  ordered  the  musketeers  to  extinguish 
their  matches.  Cromwell  watched  the  point  of  time 
at  which  the  amount  of  daylight  and  the  condition  of 
his  enemy,  as  having  left  the  hill  without  being  well 
formed  below,  concurred  in  his  favour,  and  then  struck 
the  blow.  The  effect  of  the  attack  was  an  index  to 
Leslie's  opinion  of  his  OAvn  army.  The  lines  intrusted 
with  the  front  stood  firm  and  were  slain.  The  great 
half-disciplined  mass  behind  broke  and  scattered.  The 
defeat  was  entire.  The  victor  rendered  an  account  of 
it  in  the  words  following  : — 

to  them  as  having  absolute  command.  It  was  employed  in  preventing 
Leslie  from  attacking  when  he  would  :  "  The  committee  would  not  give 
way  to  attempt  on  him,  saying  it  were  pity  to  destroy  so  many  of  their 
brethren  ;  but  seeing  the  next  day  they  were  like  to  fall  into  their 
hands,  it  were  better  to  get  a  dry  victory,  and  send  them  back  with 
shame  for  their  breach  of  covenant." — P.  180. 

'  Copied  from  the  original  in  the  Lothian  Papers,  through  the  courtesy 
of  the  Marquess  of  Lothian. 


BATTLE    OF    DUNBAR,    1650.  279 

"  The  enemy's  word  was  '  The  Covenant ! '  which  it 
had  been  for  divers  days ;  ours  '  The  Lord  of  hosts ! ' 
The  Major -General,  Lieutenant -G-eneral  Fleetwood, 
and  Commissary  -  General  Whalley  and  Colonel 
Twistleton  gave  the  onset,  the  enemy  being  in  a 
very  good  posture  to  receive  them,  having  the  advan- 
tage of  their  cannon  and  foot  against  our  horse. 
Before  our  foot  could  come  up,  the  enemy  made  a 
gallant  resistance,  and  there  was  a  very  hot  dispute 
at  sword's  point  between  our  horse  and  theirs.  Our 
first  foot,  after  they  had  discharged  their  duty  (being- 
overpowered  with  the  enemy),  received  some  repulse, 
which  they  soon  recovered  ;  for  my  own  regiment, 
under  the  command  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Gofte  and 
my  major  AVhite,  did  come  seasonably  in,  and  at 
the  push  of  pike  did  repel  the  stoutest  regiment  the 
enemy  had  there,  merely  with  the  courage  the  Lord 
was  pleased  to  give.  Which  proved  a  great  amaze- 
ment to  the  residue  of  their  foot,  this  being  the  first 
action  between  the  foot.  The  horse  in  the  mean  time 
did  Avith  a  great  deal  of  courage  and  spirit  beat  back 
all  oppositions,  charging  through  the  bodies  of  the 
enemy's  horse  and  of  their  foot,  who  were,  after  the 
first  repulse  given,  made  by  the  Lord  of  hosts  as 
stubble  to  their  swords.  Lrdeed  I  believe  I  may 
speak  it  without  partiality,  both  your  chief  com- 
manders and  others  in  their  several  places,  and 
soldiers  also,  were  acted  with  as  much  courage  as 
ever  hath  been  seen  in  any  action  since  this  war. 
I  know  they  look  not  to  be  named,  and  therefore 
I  forbear  particulars. 

"  The  best  of  the  enemy's  horse  being  broken  through 
and  through    in    less   than  an  hour's    dispute,  their 


28o  CO.IMONWEALTH. 

whole  army  being  put  into  confusion,  it  became  a  total 
rout,  our  men  having  the  chase  and  execution  of  them 
near  eight  miles.  We  believe  that  upon  the  place 
and  near  about  it  were  about  three  thousand  slain. 
Prisoners  taken  :  of  their  officers  you  have  this  en- 
closed list ;  of  private  soldiers  near  ten  thousand.  The 
Avhole  baggage  and  train  taken,  wherein  was  good 
store  of  match,  powder,  and  bullet  ;  all  their  artillery, 
great  and  small,  thirty  guns.  We  are  confident  they 
have  left  behind  them  not  less  than  fifteen  thousand 
arms.  I  have  already  brought  in  to  me  near  two 
hundred  colours,  which  I  herewith  send  you."  ^ 

This  battle,  fought  on  the  3d  of  September  16.50, 
concludes  an  epoch  in  our  history.  The  ecclesiastical 
parties  retain  their  picturesque  peculiarities  and  their 
bitterness.  Tragic  incidents  occur,  born  of  treachery 
and  cruelty  on  the  one  side  and  rugged  fanaticism  on 
the  other.  But  that  momentous  exercise  of  power 
which  had  endowed  these  peculiarities  Avith  a  certain 
awe  and  dignity  is  gone,  and  hereafter  these  parties 
have  a  merely  local  history.  The  breadth  of  influence, 
indeed,  achieved  by  Scotland  during  the  years  just 
passed  over,  is  an  anomaly  in  history.  According  to 
the  usual  course  of  events,  Scotland,  for  the  eighty 
years  now  come  to  a  close,  should  have  possessed  no 
separate  national  history.  When  Edinburgh  Castle 
was  taken  in  1.573,  the  nationality  of  Scotland  was 
provisionally  at  an  cud — provisionally  so — that  is, 
the  permanence  of  the  situation  depended  on  King 
James  succeeding  to  the  throne  of  England.  He  did 
so,  and  thus  the  condition  was  confirmed  and  perma- 
nent.    The  old  league  with  France  was  at  an  end, 

1  Carlyle,  ii.  191,  192. 


& 


BATTLE    OF    DUNBAR,    1650.  281 

and  Scotland's  lot  Avas  thro^vn  in  with  England's.  It 
was  not  that  the  influence  of  Scotland  was  to  be  anni- 
hilated— it  would  tell  in  the  national  policy,  like  the 
influence  of  the  northern  counties  of  Enoland  against 
London  and  the  south.  But  in  the  natural  order  of 
things,  Scotland  was  no  longer  to  put  her  separate 
mark  on  tlie  politics  and  history  of  the  day.  It  hap- 
pened otherwise,  as  we  have  seen.  Of  the  two  States 
united,  the  small  State  had  ardour  and  strength 
sufficient  to  drag  the  large  State  along  with  it ;  for 
Scotland  began  the  contest  which,  after  becoming  so 
memorable  in  British  history,  influenced  the  fate  of 
the  whole  civilised  world. 

After  the  heat  of  battle  had  let  itself  out  in  the 
"  chase  and  execution  "  of  nearly  eight  miles,  the  con- 
queror showed  a  temper  of  humanity  and  lenity  to 
the  wounded  and  the  prisoners.  It  was  not  to  be  a 
continuation  of  the  Irish  work.  The  Lowland  Scots 
Avere  not  enemies  of  God  and  civilised  man,  whose 
doom  was  extirpation.  Their  hostility  was  the  inci- 
dental effect  of  political  conditions,  and  with  their 
invaders  they  had  many  common  ties  of  brotherhood. 
The  battle  of  Dunbar  gave  Cromwell  the  command  of 
the  open  country  south  of  the  Forth,  Edinburgh  Castle 
and  the  other  fortresses  remaining  in  the  hands  of  the 
Committee  of  Estates. 

Accompanying  and  following  this  decisive  battle 
Avas  a  very  undecisive  Avar  of  Avords.  It  Avas  matter 
of  derision  to  the  indifferent  or  irreverent  onlooker, 
who  saw  a  competition  betAveen  the  general  of  the 
Independents  and  the  clergy  of  the  Covenant,  in 
which  the  point  of  advantage  appeared  to  be  the 
excelling  in  the  use  of  fanatical  and  Pharisaical  Ian- 


282  COMMONWEALTH. 

guage.  AVhether  or  not  Cromwell  was  the  arcli-liypo- 
crite  he  has  been  called,  the  indifFerent  bystander 
is  apt  to  sympathise  with  his  cause,  since,  while  he 
girds  himself  valiantly  for  the  fight,  and  is  as  vigor- 
ously pious  as  his  opponents,  he  does  not  think,  like 
them,  that  true  piety  is  a  monojjoly  of  his  own  sect. 
One  might  be  tempted  to  quote  at  length  from  this 
controversy,  but  there  is  one  short  precept  uttered 
by  Cromwell  against  his  assailants  so  complete  and 
powerful  that  it  were  a  pity  to  mix  it  up  with  any 
other  passages.  He  asks  if  it  is  certain  that  all  his 
opponents  say  is  "  infallibly  agreeable  to  the  Word 
of  God ; "  and  then  follows  the  grand  precept :  "I 
beseech  you,  in  the  bowels  of  Christ,  think  it  possible 
you  may  be  mistaken."  ^ 

One  standing  and  predominating  element  in  the 
controversy  was  tlie  lay  preaching,  which  had  become 
a  favourite  occupation  of  the  Independent  soldiers. 
On  this  he  rated  his  clerical  opponents  powerfully  : 
"  Are  you  troubled  that  Christ  is  preached  ?  Is 
preaching  so  peculiarly  your  function  1  Doth  it 
scandalise  the  Reformed  Churches,  and  Scotland  in 
particular  1  Is  it  against  the  Covenant  1  Away  with 
the  Covenant  if  this  be  so  !  "  "  Your  pretended  fear 
lest  error  should  step  in,  is  like  the  man  who  would 
keep  all  the  wine  out  of  the  country  lest  men  should 
be  drunk.  It  will  be  found  an  unjust  and  unwise 
jealousy  to  deprive  a  man  of  his  natural  liberty  upon 
a  supposition  he  may  abuse  it.  When  he  doth  abuse 
it,  judge.  If  a  man  speak  foolishly,  ye  suflfer  him 
gladly,  because  ye  are  wise ;  if  erroneously,  the  truth 
more  appears  by  your  conviction.     Stop  such  a  man's 

^  Carlyle,  ii.  168,  169. 


CROMWELL    IN    SCOTLAND,    1650.  283 

mouth  by  sound  words  which  cannot  be  gainsaid.  If 
he  speak  bLasphemously,  or  to  the  disturbance  of  the 
public  peace,  let  the  civil  magistrate  punish  him ;  if 
truly,  rejoice  in  the  truth."  ^ 

Such  things  must  have  opened  up  new  avenues  of 
thought  and  controversy  to  men  whose  polemical 
training  had  been  all  in  the  tactics  of  warfare  against 
Popery  and  Prelacy. 

There  was  another  point  where,  on  the  face  of  the 
controversy,  Cromwell  appeared  to  bear  himself  chari- 
tably and  reasonably.  A  group  of  the  ministers  had 
taken  refuge  in  Edinburgh  Castle.  He  thought  it 
might  be  more  to  the  purpose  that  they  were  among 
their  flocks  in  the  performance  of  their  pious  duties. 
But  they  declined  to  trust  themselves  abroad  in  a  land 
infested  by  sectaries  and  blasphemers.  Dundas,  the 
governor — Leven's  son-in-law — was  their  first  spokes- 
man ;  and  he  naturally  attributed  their  reluctance  to 
timidity,  referring  to  the  usage  given  to  ministers  in 
England  and  Ireland.  Cromwell's  answer  was  :  "  No 
man  hath  been  troubled  in  England  or  Ireland  for 
preaching  the  Gospel ;  nor  has  any  minister  been 
molested  in  Scotland  since  the  coming  of  the  army 
hither."  ^  Words  of  truth,  since  it  was  not  "  for 
preaching  the  Gospel "  that  he  left  his  bloody  mark 
on  Ireland.  In  a  second  letter,  embodying  the  views 
of  the  ministers,  they  revealed  their  true  grievance — 
that  the  sectaries  would  not  permit  them  to  take  the 
command  of  the  affairs  of  the  country,  or  speak  their 
minds  about  the  sectaries  and  other  evil  -  doers : 
"  That  it  savours  not  of  ingenuity  to  promise  liberty 
of  preaching  the  Gospel,  and  to  limit  the  preachers 

'  Carlyle,  ii.  20.  '  Ibid.,  205. 


284  COMMONWEALTH.. 

thereof  that  they  must  not  speak  against  tlie  sins  and 
enormities  of  civil  powers,  since  their  commission 
carrieth  them  to  speak  the  Word  of  the  Lord  unto 
and  to  reprove  the  sins  of  persons  of  all  ranks,  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest. "  ^ 

Cromwell  and  they  afterwards  found  a  good  deal 
of  common  ground  to  meet  on  ;  and  if  he  had  only 
favoured  them  on  one  point — if  he  had  abjured  that 
"  damnable  doctrine  of  toleration  " — they  might  have 
been  excellent  friends.  Even  the  embittered  and 
sorely  afflicted  heart  of  Baillie  was  touched  by  the 
unexpected  gentleness  of  the  terrible  sectarian.  On 
his  arrival  in  Glasgow  "  the  ministers  and  magistrates 
flee  all  away.  I  got  to  the  Isle  of  Cumbrae  with  my 
Lady  Montgomery,  but  left  all  my  family  and  goods 
to  Cromwell's  courtesy,  which  indeed  was  great;  for 
he  took  such  a  course  with  his  sojours  that  they  did 
less  displeasure  at  Glasgow  nor  if  they  had  been  at 
London,  though  Mr  Zachary  Boyd  railed  on  them  all 
to  their  very  face  in  the  High  Church."  ^ 

Let  us  now  look  in  upon  the  young  king  or  prince, 
and  his  small  court  or  jail  at  Dunfermline,  afterwards 
shifted  to  Perth.  If  his  heart  was  not  changed,  it  was 
from  no  deficiency  of  the  preaching,  pi'ayer,  exhortation, 
admonition,  and  all  the  apparatus  of  persuasion  and 
threats  available  to  the  Covenanting  community.  Of 
the  tone  in  which  it  was  rendered  we  have  perhaps 
seen  examples  more  than  enough.  Of  its  effect  those 
who  dealt  with  it  had  a  startling  opportunity  of  judg- 
ing. One  morning — the  4th  of  October — they  found, 
to  their  consternation,  that  he  had  escaped.  There 
was  immediate  chase,  and  he  was  fouud  in  the  wilds 

1  Carlyle,  ii.  207.       '■'  Letters,  iii.  129.    Of  Mr  Zucliary,  see  above,  p.  225. 


CORONATION    OF    CHARLES    II.,    1651.  285 

of  AthoU,  desolate  as  a  truant  schoolboy  who  has  run 
from  his  home  without  forecasting  a  place  of  refuge. 
There  was,  in  fact,  a  plan,  deep  and  formidable  in  its 
way,  for  gathering  round  him  a  loyal  army  of  north 
Highlanders ;  but  he  went  to  the  spot  where  he  was 
to  meet  their  chiefs  too  soon,  and  lost  his  opportunity. 

On  his  return  it  was  resolved  that  if  his  friends 
were  to  keep  him,  it  should  be  in  a  shape  available 
for  political  purposes  by  making  him  King.  Arrange- 
ments were  accordingly  made  for  crowning  him  in 
Scone,  where  so  many  of  his  gallant  ancestors  had 
been  anointed. 

The  1st  of  January  16.51  was  the  day  appointed 
for  the  ceremon}',  and  with  one  exception  it  was 
performed  with  all  state  and  magnificence ;  for  the 
"  honours  "  of  Scotland — the  crown,  SAVord,  and  scep- 
tre— were  at  hand,  and  those  who  filled  the  ofiices  of 
State  in  attendance.  Argyle  took  precedence,  and 
placed  the  crown  on  the  king's  head.  The  occasion 
was  improved  by  Eobert  Douglas  in  a  sermon  which 
in  this  age  would  be  deemed  of  monstrous  length.^ 

The  preacher  lifted  his  protest  alike  against 
Engagers  who  co-operated  with  the  uncovenanted, 
the  Kemonstrants,  who  followed  their  own  factious 
ends,  and  the  Sectaries,  who  were  for  no  monarchy. 
In  his  sermon,  too,  and  a  personal  exhortation  by 
which  it  was  followed,  he  enlarged  emphatically  on 
the  parental  sins,  which  were  to  be  repented  of  and 
avoided  if  the  new  monarch  would  escape  wrath  and 
condemnation.^ 

1  The  Form  and  Order  of  the  Coronation  of  Charles  the  Second,  King 
of  Scotland,  England,  France,  and  Ireland,  as  it  was  acted  and  done  at 
Scone  the  1st  day  of  January  1651.     Printed  at  Aberdeen  in  1651. 

^  Douglas  had,  according  to  tradition,  an  origin  that  also  admitted  of 


286  COMMONWEALTH. 

The  part  omitted  was  the  auointing.  This  omission 
was  improved  by  the  preacher,  who  referred  to  the 
unction  as  a  rag  of  Popish  and  Prelatical  superstition. 
Now,  however,  "  by  the  blessing  of  God,  Popery  and 
Prelacy  are  removed.  The  bishops,  as  limbs  of  Anti- 
christ, are  put  to  the  door ;  let  the  anointing  of  kings 
with  oU  go  to  the  door  with  them."  To  compensate 
for  this  omission,  the  National  Covenant  and  the 
Solemn  League  and  Covenant  were  read  over  to  the 
king,  and  again  signed  by  him. 

A  new  army  now  assembled  under  new  conditions. 
To  find  these  we  must  again  grope  our  way  through 
ecclesiastic  intricacies.  Half  Scotland  was  occupied  at 
that  time  in  an  attempt  to  solve  the  lesson  intended  to 
be  taught  in  the  defeat  at  Dunbar — the  meaning  of  the 
Lord  in  His  dealing  with  them,  as  it  was  termed.  A 
looker  -  on  with  strong  Prelatic  prepossessions  said  : 
"  There  was  great  lamentation  by  the  ministers,  who 
now  told  God  Almighty  it  was  little  to  them  to  lose 
their  lives  and  estates,  but  to  Him  it  was  great  loss  to 
suffer  His  elect  and  chosen  to  be  destroyed,  and  many 
other  such  blasphemous  expressions ;  and  still  crying 
out  not  to  take  in  any  of  the  Engagers,  or  to  assert  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  by  carnal  or  selfish  means."  ^  Crom- 
well threw  back  upon  them,  in  theii-  own  peculiar  style, 
but  somewhat  enriched  and  strengthened,  some  jeering 
taunts  on  the  tendency  of  the  lesson :  "  Although  they 

repentance  for  ancestral  sins.  He  was  supposed  to  be  the  grandson  of 
George  Douglas  and  Queen  Mary — a  sequel  to  the  scandal  referred  to 
aljove.  He  was  called  by  Woibow  "  a  great  State  preacher."  He  had 
been  chaplain  of  the  Scots  troops  in  the  service  of  Qustavus  Adolphus, 
who  esteemed  him  much.  We  shall  meet  with  him  as  the  colleague  of 
James  Sharp  on  a  mission  to  the  Court  at  the  period  of  the  Restoration. 
1  Walker,  183. 


CAUSES    OF   WRATH,    1650-51.  287 

seem  to  comfort  themselves  with  being  sons  of  Jacob, 
from  whom  they  say  God  hath  hid  His  face  for  a  time, 
yet  it's  no  wonder,  when  tlie  Lord  hath  lifted  up  His 
hand  so  eminently  against  a  family  as  He  hath  done 
so  often  against  this,  and  men  will  not  see  His  hand 
— it's  no  wonder  if  the  Lord  hide  His  face  from  such 
putting  Him  to  shame,  both  for  it  and  their  hatred  of 
His  people  as  it  is  this  day."  ^ 

Here  he  touched  a  point  on  which  many  were  per- 
plexedly meditating  and  doubting.  Was  it  possible 
that  after  all  they  were  on  the  wrong  side  ?  They  had 
asserted  vehemently  and  positively  that  the  defeat  of 
Hamilton's  army  at  Preston  was  a  judgment  for  the 
adoption  of  the  Engagement.  And  what  of  this 
heavier  defeat  ?  Immediately  after  the  battle,  and 
before  the  doubters  had  made  up  their  minds  to  speak 
out,  the  General  Assembly  decreed  a  clay  of  fasting 
and  humiliation  :  it  was  to  be  held  on  the  15tli  of 
September ;  and  an  edict  was  issued,  called  "  Causes 
of  solemn  public  humiliation  upon  the  defeat  of  our 
army,  to  be  kept  through  all  the  Congregation  of  Scot- 
land." In  this  paper  distinct  "  causes  of  The  Lord's 
wrath "  were  stated,  to  the  number  in  all  of  fourteen. 
They  were  all  attributed  to  insufficiency  of  purgation  ; 
and,  what  is  especially  odd  when  one  remembers  how 
many  things  at  that  time  were  taken  for  granted  with- 
out examination  to  find  whether  they  existed  or  not, 
the  insufficiencies  were  generally  accidental  through 
negligence,  not  from  false  intention.  In  fact  the 
report  on  the  causes  of  the  Lord's  dealing  at  Duubar 
resembles  a  report  on  a  railway  accident  or  the  ex- 
plosion of  a  powder-manufactory,  explaining  how  it 

1  Carlyle,  ii.  206. 


288  COMMONWEALTH. 

has  been  caused  Ijy  neglect  of  the  regulated  precau- 
tions. Taken  as  one  instance,  perhaps  the  most 
serious  of  the  defects  on  this  occasion  was  "  the 
leaving  of  a  most  malignant  and  profane  guard  of 
horse  to  he  about  the  king,  and  Avho  being  sent  for  to 
be  purged,  came  two  days  before  the  defeat,  and  were 
suffered  to  be  and  fight  in  our  army."  ^  Baillie, 
whose  zeal  was  mingled  with  sense  and  worldly 
experience,  tells  a  friend  how  he  escaped  responsibility 
as  to  the  acceptance  of  these  articles.  "  The  Lord," 
he  says,  "  in  a  very  sensible  way  to  me  carried  it  so, 
that  neither  the  Synod  was  troubled  with  me,  nor  the 
peace  of  my  mind  by  them.  I  once  inclined  to  absent 
myself,  but  behoved  to  return,  not  daring  to  take  that 
course."  But  the  course  was  taken  for  him  ;  he  was 
called  out  to  speak  with  the  Lord  Cassilis  on  business 
— the  business  occupied  his  mind,  the  time  passed 
unnoted,  and  when  he  returned  all  had  been  voted. 
Baillie  was  writing  to  his  close  friends  Dickson  and 
Spang,  and  so  he  reveals  some  weaknesses  affecting 
his  own  favourite  system  of  Church  government,  when 
some  "  did  bring  forth  that  strange  remonstrance  of 
the  Synod,  when  Mr  Patrick,  obtaining  a  committee  to 
consider  the  sins  procuring  the  wrath  of  God  on  the 
land,  did  put  such  men  on  it  as  he  liked  best,  and  by 
them  the  framing  of  the  draught  was  put  upon  him- 
self;" which  gives  opportunity  for  this  commentary  : 
"  I  have  oft  regretted  of  late  to  see  the  judicatories 
of  the  Church  so  easily  led  to  whatever  some  few  of 
our  busy  men  designed,  but  never  more  than  in  the 
particLdar  in  hand."^ 

The  "  Causes  of  The  Lord's  wrath  "  became  a  cele- 

'  Walker,  184;  Peterkin's  Records,  600.  ^  Letters,  iii.  115. 


CAUSES    OF   WRATH,    1650-55.  289 

brated  paper,  as  in  after-years  it  was  made  a  test  of  guilt, 
— those  who  had  given  it  positive  support  having  com- 
mitted an  overt  act  of  treason  ag-ainst  Kinof  Charles  II. 

Others  went  farther  than  Baillie  in  dissent  from 
this  standard,  and  thought  it  lawful  in  the  extremity 
to  use  such  forces  as  were  available.  These  were 
called  "  Eesolutioners,"  as  those  who  were  parties  to 
resolutions  for  admission  to  public  office,  civil  or 
military,  of  those  who  had  been  included  in  the  Act 
of  Classes.  They  acted  rather  in  tacit  understanding 
than  by  open  testimony ;  and  it  is  in  the  protestations 
and  remonstrances  uttered  against  them,  rather  than 
in  their  own  account  of  themselves,  that  they  stand 
forth  as  the  supporters  of  a  special  policy.  In  the 
"sense  of  the  Parliament"  dealing  with  objections, 
the  new  policy  is  defined  in  these  hesitating  terms. 
"  We  have  in  this  time  of  extreme  dano-er  to  the  cause 
and  kino-dom,  after  advice  had  from  the  commissioners 
of  the  General  Assembly,  admitted  many  who  were 
formerly  excluded  to  be  employed  in  the  army  in  this 
defensive  war  against  the  army  of  sectaries,  who,  con- 
trary to  covenant  and  treaties,  have  most  perfidiously 
invaded  and  are  destroying  this  kingdom,  not  daring 
to  omit  so  necessary  a  duty  for  fear  of  a  future  danger 
which  may  ensue  upon  the  employment  of  such."  ^ 
Baillie,  who  affords  so  many  clear  pictures  of  his 
times,  loses  his  distinctness  at  this  juncture,  and  lets 
us  feel  the  perplexities  of  himself  and  others  in  the 
mistiness  of  his  revelations  : — 

"  We  had  long  much  debates  about  employing  Ma- 
lignants  in  our  arms.  Some  were  of  opinion  that  the 
Acts  of  Church  and  State  were  unjust  and  for  par- 

1  Act.  Pari.  (01(1  Record  Ed.),  vi.  555. 
VOL.  VII.  T 


290  COMMONWI'-AI/l'II. 

ticiiliii-  cuds  froiii  l1i<;  \>r'n\\u\u</.  All  iiffrccd  tliiil, 
coiumon  KuldliTS,  ;ii'Lcf  HiitiHfiiciiiin  In  ihc,  ( iliurc.li, 
mi;i;lil-  1)C  tiikcn  in.  Iliii  iis  for  odlccrH,  nolilc.incn,  ii.nd 
<i;riil,lciii(;n  voluiiiccrH,  llicy  W(M'c.  tioI,  to  ho  tidccii  In  ;ij, 
all,  at  IciiHt  not  wiihout  iiii<;  (ariincnl,  dcnrcu;  of  evident 
i-(.'|)cntii,ncc. 

"  'I'lic  nioHt  tliouf^lit  tlic.y  rni^dit  ]>(',  <'ni|iloyc(l  ii,n 
soldiers,  on  tlicir  lulniil.tiuice  liy  tlio  ('liurnli  to  tlic 
Ba('i';i,rnciit  iuid  CyOV<;nii,nt.  As  (or  placcH  oC  (•onnscl 
and,  trust,  tliii.t  this  wii.s  to  Ik;  left  to  tlics  StiiXe's  dis- 
ci-iJlon.  JIfjwovcr,  when  the  case  w;i,s  clearly  idtci'c.d, 
and  now  there  was  jjo  choici;  of  men,  the  l'a,r'liarnciit 
wrote;  to  Mr  Itfjljci't  l)oii;ilii,H  to  ca,ll  the  eorfiiiiiHHi(j|] 
extraordinarily  :  a  qnoruni  was  gol,,  most  of  thcHc  of 
J^'ife.  'I'he  (juestion  was  jirojioncd,  of  th<;  la.wrulncHH 
of  employing  such  who  hefon;  were  excluded.  The 
question  was  alleeed  to  he,  altered  from  tliaJ,  which 
Mr  fJillespie  writes  of,  a.nd  that  whereto  Mr  fJuthrie 
had  sf^ilenuijv  eufa/icd  —a  defence;  of  our  life  a,nd 
country,  in  exti-eiue  necessity,  a.fia,in,st  secl.aria.ns  and 
strangers,  who  ha,d  twice  been  victors.  My  heaxt  wa.n 
in  gn;at  p(;rplexity  for  this  question.  I  was  much  in 
j)rayer  to  (<od,  and  irj  sfinie  action  with  men,  for  a 
concord  in  it.  'J'he  Parliament  were  necessita,te  to 
employ  more  than  hefon;,  oi'  give  over  their  defence 
Mr  iSamuel  Jiutherford  and  Mr. James  Guthrie  wroti; 
peremptory  letters  to  the  old  way,  on  all  liazards. 
Mr  Robert  Dou^jlas  a,nd  Mr  l)a,vi<l  l)ick  had  ol'  a 
long  time  fjeen  in  my  sense,  that  in  the  war  agajust 
invading  strangers  our  fotTuer  Htrietness  ha,d  hcc.n 
unadvised  a,nd  unjust.  Mr  j^lair  and  Mr  JJurharn 
wer<;  a  little  amhiguous,  which  J  rnucli  fea,ref]  should 
have  devised  the  cornniisHion;  and  likely  had  done  so. 


CAUSES    OF   WRATH,    1650-55.  291 

if  witli  the  loss  of  the  west  the  absence  of  all  the 
brethren  of  the  west  had  not  concurred.  However, 
we  carried  ■unanimously  at  last  the  answer  herewith 
sent  to  you.  My  joy  for  this  was  soon  tempered 
when  I  saw  the  consequence — the  ugging  of  sundry 
good  people  to  see  numbers  of  grievous  bloodshedders 
ready  to  come  in,  and  so  many  I\Ialignant  noblemen 
as  were  not  Hke  to  lay  down  arms  till  they  were  put 
into  some  places  of  trust,  and  restored  to  their  vote  in 
Parliament."  ^ 

Agaia  : — • 

"  Ane  other  inconvenient  was  like  to  trouble  us, 
a  seed  of  hyper-BroT\Tiism,  which  had  been  secretly 
sown  in  the  miads  of  sundiy  of  the  soldiers,  that  it 
was  unlawful  to  join  in  arms  with  such  and  such  men, 
and  so  that  they  were  necessitate  to  make  a  civd 
separation  from  such,  for  fear  of  sin  and  cursing  of 
their  enterprises.  The  main  fomenters  of  these  doubts 
seemed  not  at  all  to  be  led  by  conscience,  but  by 
interest ;  for  the  officers  of  our  standing  army,  since 
the  defeat  at  Dunbar,  being  sent  to  recruit  the  regi- 
ments to  the  northern  shires,  did  little  increase  that 
number,  but  taking  large  money  for  men,  and  yet 
exacted  quarters  for  men  which  were  not ;  this 
vexed  the  country  and  disappointed  the  service.  The 
officers,  by  the  new  levies,  thought  it  easy  to  be 
recruited  at  their  pleasure  ;  but  ane  Act  passing,  that 
the  new  le%des  should  not  recruit  the  old  regiments, 
they  stormed,  and  gladly  wotdd  have  blasted  the  new 
way  for  their  own  ends.  Under  these  evds  we  wrestle 
as  yet,  but  hopes  for  a  good  end  of  these  divisions 
also  ;  in  the  mean  time  Cromwell  is  daily  expected  to 

1  Letters,  &c.,  iii.  126. 


292  COMMONWEALTH. 

march  towards  Stirling  to  mar  the  coronation,  which, 
sore  against  my  heart,  was  delayed  to  the  1st  of 
January,  on  pretence  of  keeping  a  fast  for  the  sins  of 
the  king's  family  on  Thursday  next.  AVc  mourned 
on  Sunday  last  for  the  contempt  of  the  Gospel,  accord- 
ing to  Mr  Dickson's  motion,  branched  out  by  Mr 
Wood.  Also  you  see  in  the  printed  papers,  upon 
other  particulars  the  commission  at  Stirling,  which 
appointed  these  fasts,  could  not  agree.  The  Ee- 
monstrants  pressed  to  have  sundry  sins  acknowledged 
which  others  denied,  and  would  not  now  permit  them 
to  set  down  as  they  would  what  causes  of  fast  they 
liked.  Surely  we  had  never  more  cause  of  mourning, 
be  the  causes,  what  God  knows,  visible  or  invisible, 
confessed  or  denied,  unseen  or  seen,  by  all  but  the 
most  guilty.  It  cannot  be  denied  but  our  miseries 
and  dangers  of  ruin  are  greater  nor  for  many  ages  have 
been — a  potent  victorious  enemy  master  of  our  seas, 
and  for  some  good  time  of  the  best  part  of  our  land; 
our  standing  forces  against  this  his  imminent  inva- 
sion, few,  weak,  inconsiderable;  our  Kirk,  State,  army, 
full  of  divisions  and  jealousies;  the  body  of  our  people 
bcsouth  Forth  spoiled,  and  near  starving;  they  be- 
north  Forth  extremely  ill  used  by  a  handful  of  our 
own ;  many  inclining  to  treat  and  agree  with  Crom- 
well, without  care  either  of  king  or  Covenant ;  none  of 
our  neighbours  called  upon  by  us,  or  willing  to  give 
us  any  help  though  called.  What  the  end  of  all  shall 
be  the  Lord  knows.  Many  are  ready  to  faint  with 
discouragement  and  despair;  yet  diverse  are  waiting 
on  the  Lord,  expecting  He  will  help  us  in  our  great 
extremity  against  our  most  unjust  ojipressors."^ 

1  Letters,  &c.,  iii.  127,  128. 


THE    REMONSTRANTS,    1650-51.  293 

So,  had  the  western  representatives  been  present,  the 
dubious  policy  of  the  "  Eesolutioners  "  would  probably 
have  been  outvoted.  These  western  people  drew  apart 
and  uttered  their  own  testimony  in  a  "  remonstrance." 
Like  so  many  of  the  papers  of  the  day,  those  who 
composed  it  took  the  opportunity  of  setting  forth  a 
general  code  of  policy  both  for  Church  and  State  ;  but 
when  they  touched  on  existing  politics  their  utterance 
was  clear  and  unmistakable — a  thorough  contrast  to 
the  hazy  talk  of  the  Resolutionists.  Their  position 
was,  that  the  young  man  Charles  Stewart  was  not  at 
heart  a  sound  Covenanter,  and  they  who  pretended  to 
believe  he  was  a  sound  Covenanter  knew  that  he  was 
not.^  Henceforth  these  men  stood  apart  as  a  peculiar 
people.  They  were  called  "  Eemonstrants,"  and  some- 
times "  Protesters,"  and  in  later  times  "  the  wild  west- 
land  Whigs."  It  was  their  doom  ever  to  be  unfor- 
tunate. It  was  not  that  they  could  possibly  be  in  the 
wrong,  but  the  Lord  had  hidden  His  face  from  them 
on  account  of  the  iniquity  of  the  times.  We  shall 
hear  of  them  twenty  years  later,  with  all  their  pecu- 
liai'ities  hardened  into  them  by  the  fire  of  persecution. 
Meanwhile  they  raised  a  considerable  army.  It  was 
commanded  by  Colonel  Archibald  Strachan,  an  aljle 
soldier — the  same  who  led  the  party  against  Montrose 
in  Eoss-shire.  It  is  singular  that  of  this  man,  who 
seemed  for  a  few  months  to  have  the  destinies  of  the 
country  in  his  keeping,  so  little  should  be  known. 
His  name  is  not  to  be  found  in  any  biographical  dic- 
tionary. He  went  just  a  step  beyond  the  place  as- 
sio-ned  for  "  Scots  worthies,"  and  so  was  neither  com- 

o 

1  "  The  humble  Remonstrance  of  the  Gentlemen,  Commander,  and 
Ministers  attending  the  Forces  in  the  Wust ; "  Peterkin,  604. 


294  COMMONWEALTH. 

tnemorated  as  friend  nor  enemy.  It  appears  that  lie 
belonged  to  a  class  very  acceptable  to  the  zealous  at 
all  times.  He  was  an  awakened  sinner — one  of  those 
whose  early  life  was  burdened  with  such  a  weight  of 
sin  that  they  feel  as  if  all  the  world  ought  to  do  pen- 
ance for  it.  If  he  joined  either  the  king  or  Cromwell, 
it  would  alter  the  face  of  the  contest;  but  he  kept 
aloof  from  both.  It  was  observed  that  he  put  himself 
out  of  the  way  of  either,  by  taking  his  stand  at  Dum- 
fries, in  the  south-western  extremity  of  the  country. 
Though  a  party  of  his  followers  had  a  skirmish  with 
a  part  of  Cromwell's  army  near  Hamilton,  yet  he  was 
suspected  of  favouring  the  sectaries.  "Since  the 
amendment  of  his  once  very  low  life,"  says  Baillie, 
"  he  inclined  much  in  opinion  towards  the  sectaries ; 
and  having  joined  with  Cromwell  at  Preston  against 
the  Engagers,  had  continued  with  them  to  the  king's 
death."  This  was  an  occasion  on  which  it  was  an 
offence  to  be  on  either  side.  He  was  brought  to 
"  content  the  commission  of  the  Church  for  his  error," 
but  "at  this  time  many  of  his  old  doubts  revives  in 
him."  ^  The  records  of  Parliament  would  make  his 
conduct  less  doubtful,  if  we  could  believe  in  them.  It 
is  observable  that  the  Estates  met  at  Perth,  with  the 
king  at  their  head,  passing  with  all  solemnity  many 
Acts  which  dropped  into  oblivion.  They  took  the 
initial  steps  of  a  prosecution  against  Strachan,  as  an 
abettor  of  the  enemy,  along  with  Dundas,  who  had 
traitorously,  as  they  held,  rendered  Edinburgh  Castle 
to  the  sectaries.^ 

1  Baillie's  Letters,  iii.  112,  113. 

^  Summons  against  Colonel  Archibald  Strachan,  Walter  Dundas  of 
that  ilk,  and  others;  Acts,  vi.  548. 


BATTLE    OF   WORCESTER,    165 1.  295 

Wodrow  had  it  from  his  wife's  uncle,  the  husband 
of  Strachan's  sister,  that  "  he  was  a  singular  Christian  ; 
that  he  was  excommunicate  summarily  for  his  leaving 
them  [with]  the  forces  at  Hamilton ;  that  his  heart 
was  much  broken  with  that  sentence,  and  he  sickened 
and  died  within  a  while ;  that  he  was  so  far  from 
being  upon  Cromwell's  interest,  that  he  had  the  greatest 
offers  made  him  by  Cromwell,  and  refused  them  ;  that 
he  had  the  general's  place  offered  him  of  all  Crom- 
well's forces  in  Scotland,  and  refused  it."  ^ 

To  whatever  direction  his  intentions  tended,  fate 
took  the  decision  out  of  his  hands.  The  army  group- 
ing round  the  king  enlarged,  and  under  David  Leslie 
they  fortified  themselves  on  the  height  between  Stir- 
ling and  Falkirk,  renowned  in  the  days  of  Wallace  as 
the  Tor  Wood.  In  vain  Cromwell  endeavoured  to  draw 
them  out  to  battle.  At  length,  after  watching  them 
for  several  months,  he  determined  to  take  his  own 
post  at  the  other  side  of  the  king's.  He  crossed  the 
Forth  at  Queensferry,  and  beating  a  force  Avhich  at- 
tempted to  intercept  him  at  Inverkeithing,  reached 
and  occupied  Perth.  The  way  southward  was  now 
open,  and  the  royal  army  did  an  act  of  unexpected 
decision  and  spirit.  Silently  and  speedily  they 
marched  into  England.  It  was  the  same  strategy 
that  brought  Montrose  to  Scotland  seven  years  earlier 
— the  enemy's  army  was  absent  at  the  other  end  of 
the  island.  They  passed  through  Yorkshire  and  be- 
yond Staffordshire,  a  moving  centre  to  which  the 
Royalists  of  England  were  expected  to  gravitate,  but 
these  came  only  in  small  numbers. 

It  was  of  course  obvious  to  Cromwell,  that  unless 

^  Analecta,  ii.  86. 


296  COMMONWEALTH. 

this  small  army  were  speedily  sought  and  destroyed, 
it  would  reach  London,  where  it  might  enlarge  itself 
and  renew  the  war  in  earnest.  They  had  reached 
Worcester  before  he  overtook  them.  Here,  unless  they 
could  occupy  some  strong  post  on  the  Malvern  Hills, 
it  was  clear  that  Worcester  itself  was  the  safest  spot 
for  a  stand  :  it  had  a  wall,  with  Gothic  gates,  strongly 
defensible  before  the  days  of  artillery,  and  between 
them  and  the  enemy  was  the  rapid  Severn.  Nowhere 
else  in  the  low  country  was  there  a  post  so  defensible. 
The  king  and  his  attendants  from  the  cathedral  tower 
saw  the  enemy  making  a  bridge  of  boats  across  the 
Severn  where  the  Teme  joins  it  a  little  way  below  the 
town.  A  party  was  sent  to  stop  the  making  of  the 
bridge ;  but  it  was  either  too  late  or  too  feeble  for  its 
purjDose,  and  was  driven  back.  This  bridge  united 
Cromwell  and  Fleetwood.  The  Scots  made  their  chief 
stand  at  the  Sudbury  Gate — probably  a  large  Gothic 
building  like  its  neighbour,  Edgar's  Gate,  still  visible. 
The  Scots  occupied  the  castle,  where,  according  to 
Cromwell  himself,  they  "  made  a  very  considerable 
fight  Avith  us  for  three  hours'  space,"  until  they  were 
driven  from  it  and  its  guns  turned  on  them.  While 
they  continu.ed  the  fight  at  Sudbury  Gate,  the  king, 
who  saw  what  the  event  was  to  be,  made  his  escape 
with  a  few  personal  followers.  His  army  was  anni- 
hilated. This  battle  was  fought  on  the  3d  of  Septem- 
ber 1651,  the  first  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  Dunbar. 
"Indeed,"  says  the  victor,  "this  hath  been  a  glorious 
mercy,  and  as  stifi"  a  contest  for  four  or  five  hours  as 
I  have  ever  seen."  So  ended  the  great  civil  war.  It 
was  begun  by  the  Scots — they  partook  in  the  first  great 
victory  over  the  royal  party,  and  here  they  shared  its 


SIEGE    OF    DUNDEE,    1651.  297 

last  battle  and  its  conclusive  defeat.  Among  the  cap- 
tives taken  in  the  retreat  or  flight  were  David  Leslie, 
and  ]\Iiddleton  who  became  conspicuous  in  the  reign 
of  Charles  II. 

]\Ionk  was  left  in  Scotland  in  command  of  five 
thousand  men — a  sufficient  force  to  remove  all  im- 
pediments, now  that  Scotland  was  so  drained  of  men, 
and  that  Edinburgh  Castle  had  fallen.  In  Stirling 
Castle  was  found  a  deposit  of  public  records,  which 
were  removed  to  the  Tower  of  London.  The  fate  of 
Dundee  has  attracted  a  mysterious  and  horrible  inter- 
est. Two  days  before  the  battle  of  Worcester  it  was 
stormed.  We  are  told  that  its  large  garrison  was 
"put  to  the  edge  of  the  sword,"  and  that  the  inhabi- 
tants— men  and  women,  old  and  young — were  miscel- 
laneously slaughtered.  It  was  one  of  the  privileges  or 
"courtesies"  established  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  that 
if  a  town  held  out  against  a  storm,  it  was  handed  over 
to  the  licence  of  the  soldiers,  who  slaughtered  and 
pillaged,  as  we  may  see  in  Callot's  etchings.  But  the 
enemy  who  had  any  chivalry  in  his  nature  permitted 
all  the  unwarlike  inhabitants  to  be  removed  before  the 
storming.  Wanton  cruelty  was  not  one  of  Monk's 
vices ;  and  had  the  storming  of  Dundee  been  such  a 
deed  as  some  have  described,  it  would  have  hung  more 
weightily  on  his  memory,  and  been  more  frequently 
referred  to  in  contemporary  history  than  it  has  been. 
There  is  nothing  in  local  record  to  confirm  the  aggra- 
vations, and  anticjuaries  have  in  vain  tried  to  find 
where  the  crowd  of  sufferers  was  buried.^ 

'  Thomson's  History  of  Dundee,  72.  Thongli  local  record  gives  no 
assistance  to  the  storj',  local  tradition— the  parent  of  lies— gives  ample 
contribution  to  it :  "  It  is  a  tradition  here  that  the  carnage  did  not  cease 


298  COMMONWEALTH. 

Dundee  had  been  selected  as  a  city  of  refuge  by 
those  who  had  been  driven  out  of  Edinburgh,  Glasgow, 
and  Perth.  When  seeking  safety  there  they  took  with 
them  their  valuable  movables.  Hence  the  town  was 
a  centre  of  critical  interest  to  both  parties.  When 
Monk  threatened  the  place,  the  Committee  of  Estates 
went  in  a  body  to  arrange  for  its  defence,  and  probably 
to  get  within  its  defences.  They  were  at  Alyth,  a 
village  in  a  hilly  country  some  fifteen  miles  from 
Dundee.  Monk  sent  five  hundred  horse  under  Colonel 
Aldriche  to  eject  them,  and  it  was  noticed  that  in  that 
force  there  were  Scotsmen  who  knew  the  ways  through 
the  mountains,  and  served,  as  guides. •'■ 

It   appears   that   when    summoned    to    surrender, 

till  the  third  da}-,  when  a  child  was  seen  in  a  lane  called  the  Thester 
Row  sucking  its  murdered  mother." — Old  Stat.  Account,  viii.  212.  Mr 
Stuart  Wortle}^,  in  his  notes  to  Guizot's  Memoirs  of  Monk,  says  : 
"  Monk  is  charged  with  this  atrocity  on  the  authority  of  Ludlow,  who 
says  that  he  commanded  the  governor  and  others  to  be  killed  in  cold 
blood.  But  we  must  recollect  that  Ludlow  wrote  long  after  (he  finished 
his  Memoirs  in  1699)  at  a  distance  (for  he  wrote  in  Switzerland),  and 
apparently,  b}'  internal  evidence,  very  much  from  recollection.  More- 
over, Monk  was  one  of  those  by  whom  he  had  '  seen  their  cause  be- 
trayed,' as  he  expresses  it  in  his  opening  sentence  ;  and  he  had  a  strong 
dislike  to  him,  which  often  appears." — P.  61.  Though  not  supported  by 
Whitelocke,  Clarendon,  Baillie,  or  Baker,  however,  Ludlow's  is  not  the 
only  testimony  to  the  charge.  It  is  given  hy  Sir  James  Balfour,  the 
Lord  Lyon,  thus  :  "  Monk  commanded  all,  of  whatsomever  sex,  to  be 
put  to  the  edge  of  the  sword.  The  townsmen  did  no  duty  in  their  o'^^^l 
defence,  but  were  most  of  them  all  drunken  like  so  many  beasts.  There 
were  eight  hundred  inhabitants  and  soldiers  killed,  and  about  two  hun- 
dred women  and  children." — Vol.  iii.  314.  Gumble,  Monk's  chaplain  and 
biographer,  improves  on  this  story  of  the  drunkenness.  A  treacherous 
boy  climbed  over  the  wall  and  told  Monk  "  in  what  condition  the  town 
was,  that  at  nine  o'clock  the  strangers  and  soldiers  used  to  take  such 
large  morning  draughts — whether  to  make  them  forget  the  misery  their 
country  was  in  at  that  time,  or  their  own  personal  troubles  and  losses — 
that  before  the  twelfth  they  were  most  of  them  drenched  in  their  cups  ; 
but  they  were  more  drunk  with  a  vain  security  and  confidence." — P.  43. 
^  Baker's  Chronicle,  343. 


SIEGE    OF    DUNDEE,    1651.  299 

Lvimsden,  tlie  governor,  gave  a  soldier's  haughty 
answer  —  all  he  would  do  for  his  enemies  was  to 
give  them  a  pass  homewards.  He  was  killed,  but, 
as  we  are  told,  by  a  casualty,  after  it  had  been  re- 
solved to  save  his  life.  Every  one  who  has  visited 
Dundee  must  have  noticed  the  church  tower  or  belfry, 
biiilt  of  massive  masonry  to  a  great  height,  and  dark 
and  sullen  in  the  absence  in  the  lower  stages  of  win- 
dows or  other  openings  to  relieve  the  monotony  of 
the  walls.  Here  the  last  stand  was  made,  until  the  de- 
fenders "were  smothered  out  by  the  burning  of  straw."  ^ 
We  may  believe  that  the  assailants  obtained  much 
valuable  plunder  in  the  stormed  city ;  but  when  it  is 
said  that  it  was  at  the  time  crowded  by  people  of 
wealth  and  position,  that  tends  to  contradict  the  story 
of  the  slaughter,  since  the  fate  of  such  persons  would 
be  distinctly  known.^ 

^  On  looking  at  this  building,  it  will  be  seen  that  its  mndows  have 
been  built  up  at  some  remote  period,  and  in  absence  of  any  other  account 
of  this  closing  up,  ^Te  may  presume  that  it  was  for  the  purpose  of 
strengthening  the  post  against  Monk's  attack.  Few  castles  of  the  day 
were  stronger  than  this  ecclesiastical  edifice.  When  it  was  dra'mi  "^^dth 
its  old  openings — that  is,  with  the  old  windows,  according  to  the  profiles 
and  mouldings  still  visible — the  grim  unadorned  tower  became  one  of 
the  richest  and  lightest  specimens  of  that  noblest  of  all  forms  of  Gothic 
architecture,  the  transition  between  the  first  and  second  pointed. —  See 
the  engraving  in  Billings's  '  Ecclesiastical  and  Baronial  Antiquities.'  It 
is  singular  that,  in  this  age  of  ecclesiological  zeal  and  costly  restoration, 
a  building  should  remain  in  deformity  when  the  mere  removal  of  a  heap 
of  stones  would  make  it  a  noble  ornament  to  a  city  possessed  by  an 
affluent  and  liberal  community. 

^  The  author  of  the  Old  Statistical  Account  says  that  in  the  parish  regis- 
ters of  the  to^\•Ti.  he  can  trace,  as  then  present  in  it,  "  the  Earls  of  Buchan, 
Tweeddale,  Buccleuch,  and  Rosebery,  the  Viscount  of  Newburgh,  the 
Lords  Balcarras,  Tester,  and  Ramsay,  and  the  Master  of  Burley."  But 
Douglas's  Peerage,  and  other  genealogical  documents,  do  not  show  that 
these  personages  were  slain  at  Dundee,  or  that  the  death  of  any  of  them 
occurred  in  1651. 


300  COMMONWEALTH. 

This  was  the  hist  blow  in  Scotland  to  those  who, 
whether  as  Covenanters  or  Cavaliers,  supported  the 
throne  and  the  house  of  Stewart.  A  strong  man 
armed  had  taken  possession ;  but  at  last  there  came 
one  stronger  than  he.  Three  infallibilities  had  suc- 
cessively held  rule — the  infallibility  of  Laud  on  the 
apostolic  past ;  the  infallibility  of  the  Covenanters ; 
now  it  was  the  turn  of  the  infallibility  of  Cromwell 
and  his  army  of  saints.  It  exemplified  a  renowned 
saying,  that  Providence  was  to  be  found  with  that 
side  which  had  brought  the  heaviest  artillery  into  the 
field.  Cromwell  was  keenly  alive  to  the  potency  of 
that  great  arm  of  war,  and  his  artillery  was  on  a 
scale  of  which  Scotland  had  previously  little  concep- 
tion.^ 

The  new  Government,  whether  we  call  it  Protec- 
torate or  C!ommonwealth,  was  disj)osed — nay,  it  may 
be  said  with  more  accuracy,  earnestly  endeavoured — 
to  treat  Scotland  fairly  after  its  own  way  of  dealing. 
In  the  State  documents  the  empire  was  spoken  of  as 
"  England,"  as  indeed  it  often  is  at  the  present  day, 
after  a  habit  sometimes  provocative  of  protests  by 
Scotsmen  never  loud  enough  to  be  heard.  The  in- 
genious idea  of  King  James,  adopted  both  in  Parlia- 
mentary procedure  and  diplomacy  after  the  Union  of 
1707 — the  idea  of  giving  the  new  name  of  "Great 

'  A  curious  and  impressive  specimen  of  his  "  pommelling "  will  be 
seen  in  the  wall-plate  of  the  tower  of  Borthwick,  twelve  miles  from 
Edinliurgh.  It  is  one  of  the  thickest-walled  and  strongest  of  the  square 
fortresses  in  Scotland,  and  its  keeper  thought  he  might  even  defy  artil- 
lery. Cromwell  wrote  liim  a  laconic  letter,  saying  :  "  If  j'ou  necessitate 
me  to  bend  my  cannon  against  you,  you  may  expect  what  1  doul)t  not 
you  will  not  be  pleased  with"  (Carlyle,  ii.  228).  A  rough  cavity  torn 
into  the  flat  ashler  stone- work  shows  that  a  few  more  shots  would  have 
brought  the  enormous  tower  tojjpling  to  the  ground. 


THE    PACIFICATION,    1651-52.  3or 

Britain"  to  the  two  nations  united  under  his  sceptre 
— was  not  known,  or  if  known,  not  followed.  The 
ordinances  wliich  superseded  Acts  of  Parliament  in 
England  and  Acts  of  the  Estates  in  Scotland  were 
issued  in  the  name  of  the  Protector  and  Council,  after- 
wards the  Protector  and  Parliament,  "of  England." 
It  was  only  when  there  were  ordinances  solely  appli- 
cable to  Scotland  that  this  part  of  "England"  was 
separately  named.  Thus  there  was  no  respect  for  the 
nationality  of  the  Scots  or  for  their  "  ancient  king- 
dom." But  there  was  much  consideration  for  their 
welfare  as  a  people,  and  for  just  dealing  with  their 
personal  rights  and  obligations.  To  make  a  AA^nding- 
up,  as  it  were,  of  the  quarrel  concluded  by  Dunbar 
and  Worcester,  an  ordinance  of  indemnity  was  passed  : 
"  His  highness  the  Lord  Protector  of  the  Common- 
wealth of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  and  the 
dominions  thereunto  belonging,  being  desirous  that 
the  mercies  which  it  hath  pleased  God  to  give  to  this 
nation  by  the  successes  of  their  forces  in  the  late  war 
in  Scotland,  should  be  improved  for  the  good  and 
advantage  of  both  nations,  and  the  people  of  Scotland 
made  equal  sharers  with  those  of  England  in  the  pre- 
sent settlement  of  peace,  liberty,  and  prosperity,  with 
all  other  privileges  of  a  free  people."  This  ordinance, 
passed  by  his  highness  "with  the  consent  of  his  Council," 
was  ec[uivalent  both  to  an  indemnity  for  ofiences  and 
a  declaration  of  peace  between  England  and  Scotland. 
From  the  indemnity  there  were  exceptions,  including 
specially  the  royal  family,  the  house  of  Hamilton, 
and  some  other  persons  of  note,  such  as  the  Earls 
Marischal,  Lauderdale,  and  Loudon.  There  was  a 
o-cneral  exception  of  the  following  classes :  1st,  All  mem- 


302  COMMONWEALTH. 

bers  of  the  Estates  wlio  did  not  concur  in  "  the  great 
protestation "  against  the  resolution  to  send  Hamil- 
ton's army  into  England,  "  and  all  who  served  in  that 
army;"  2d,  All  who  attended  Parliament  or  the  Com- 
mittee of  Estates  after  "the  coronation  of  Charles 
Stuart ;  "  3d,  All  who  took  arms  for  "  the  said  Charles 
Stuart "  after  the  battle  of  Dunbar,  or  followed  him  to 
Worcester.  There  were  complicated  clauses  for  pre- 
serving any  claims  over  the  estates  thus  forfeited  held 
by  persons  not  implicated  in  the  cause  of  forfeiture.^ 

There  was  one  man  in  Scotland  so  powerful  that 
he  became  the  object  of  a  separate  policy.  Argyle 
fortified  himself  in  his  Highland  fastnesses.  He  pro- 
posed to  hold  a  meeting  of  the  Estates  at  Inverary,  to 
which  Huntly  and  other  Eoyalists  were  invited.^  To 
subdue  him  would  be  an  affair  of  time  and  difficulty, 
and  Avould  demand  a  kind  of  warfare  to  which  Ene;- 
lish  forces  were  unaccustomed.  The  alternative, 
however,  was  either  subjugation  or  direct  alliance. 
Both  parties  preferred  the  latter  alternative,  and  he 
entered  on  treaty  with  "  Major -General  Pdchard  Deane 
on  behalf  of  the  Parliament  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
England."  By  this  treaty  the  marquess  engages  "that 
he  shall  neither  directly  nor  indirectly  act  or  contrive 
anything  to  the  prejudice  of  the  Parliament  of  the 
Commonwealth  of  England,  their  forces,  or  authority 
exercised  in  Scotland,  but  shall  live  peaceably  and 
quietly  under  the  said  Government."     He  is  to  use 

^  Declarations,  Orders,  and  Ordinances,  ii.  231. 

^  "  Letters  that  the  Lord  Argjde  had  called  in  Parliament,  and  that 
Mr  Alexander  [Andrew]  Cant,  a  minister,  said  in  his  pulpit  '  that  God 
was  bound  to  own  that  Parliament.  That  all  other  Parliaments  were 
called  by  man,  but  this  was  brought  about  by  His  own  hand.'  " — White- 
locke,  489. 


CLOSING   THE    GENERAL   ASSEMBLY,    1653.      303 

"  the  utmost  of  his  endeavours  "  that  in  this  his  vassals 
and  follo-wers  shall  follo-\v  his  example.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  representative  of  the  Parliament  agrees  that 
he  shall  "  enjoy  his  liberty,  estate,  lands,  and  debts, 
and  whatever  duly  belongs  unto  him,  from  all  seques- 
tration and  molestation  of  the  Parliament  of  the 
Commonwealth  of  England."  The  treaty  is  not  to 
interfere  with  his  "  good  endeavours  for  the  establish- 
ing of  religion  according  to  his  conscience,"  provided 
this  be  not  accomplished  by  any  act  of  hostility  or 
force.'^  The  significance  of  this  paper  is  in  its  testi- 
mony to  the  great  power  acquired  by  the  western 
potentate,  and  in  this  sense  it  connects  itself  with 
subsequent  events. 

One  important  thing  had  yet  to  be  done.  The 
theologians  Avho  had  kept  Scotland  in  uproar  for  so 
many  years  had  to  be  silenced  as  well  as  the  politicians. 
The  two  opposing  parties — the  Eesolutioners  and  the 
Eemonstrants — were  girding  their  loins  for  a  war  of 
extermination.  After  a  long  contest,  with  much  sur- 
rounding disturbance,  the  end  Avould  be  that  the 
majority  would  drive  forth  the  minority.  In  July 
1653  the  General  Assembly  met  in  Edinburgh,  each 
side  charged  with  material  for  hot  debate.  What 
occurred  on  that  occasion  can  best  be  told  in  the 
words  of  Baillie,  both  an  eyewitness  and  a  sufferer  : — 

"  Lieutenant-Colonel  Cotterel  beset  the  church  with 
some  rattes  of  musketeers  and  a  troop  of  horse.  Him- 
self (after  our  fast,  wherein  Mr  Dickson  and  Mr 
Douo-las  had  two  gracious  sermons)  entered  the 
Assembly  House,  and  immediately  after  Mr  Dickson 
the  moderator  his  prayer,  required  audience,  wherein 

>  Articles  of  Agreement,  &o.  ;  Kirkton,  105,  n. 


304  COMMONWEALTH. 

lie  inquired  if  we  did  sit  there  by  tlie  autliority  of  the 
Parliament  of  tlie  Commonwealth  of  England,  or  of 
the  commander-in-chief  of  the  English  forces,  or  of 
the  English  judges  in  Scotland.  The  moderator  re- 
plied that  we  were  an  ecclesiastical  synod,  a  spiritual 
court  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  meddled  not  with  any- 
thing civil ;  that  our  authority  was  from  God,  and 
established  by  the  laws  of  the  land  yet  standing  un- 
repealed ;  that  by  the  Solemn  League  and  Covenant 
the  most  of  the  English  army  stood  obliged  to  defend 
our  General  Assembly.  When  some  speeches  of  this 
kind  had  passed,  the  lieutenant-colonel  told  us  his 
order  was  to  dissolve  us ;  whereupon  he  commanded 
all  of  us  to  follow  him,  else  he  would  drag  us  out  of 
the  room.  When  we  had  entered  a  protestation  of 
this  unheard-of  and  unexampled  violence,  we  did  rise 
and  follow  him.  He  led  us  all  throueh  the  whole 
streets  a  mile  out  of  the  town,  encompassing  us  with 
foot  companies  of  musketeers,  and  horsemen  without, 
all  the  people  gazing  and  mourning  as  at  the  saddest 
spectacle  they  had  ever  seen.  When  he  had  led  us  a 
mile  without  the  town,  he  then  declared  what  further 
he  had  in  commission — that  we  should  not  dare  to 
meet  any  more  above  three  in  number,  and  that 
against  eight  o'clock  to  -  morrow  we  should  depart 
the  town,  under  pain  of  being  guilty  of  breaking  the 
public  peace ;  and  the  day  following,  by  sound  of 
trumpet,  we  were  commanded  off  town,  under  the 
pain  of  present  imprisonment.  Thus  our  General 
Assembly,  the  glory  and  strength  of  our  Church  upon 
earth,  is  by  your  soldiery  crushed  and  trod  under 
foot,  without  the  least  provocation  from  us  at  tliis 
time,  either  in  word  or  deed.     For  this  our  hearts  are 


CLOSING    THE    GENERAL   ASSEMBLY,    1653.       305 

sad,  our  eyes  run  down  with  water,  we  sigh  to  God, 
against  whom  we  have  sinned,  and  wait  for  the  help 
of  His  hand ;  but  from  those  who  oppressed  us  we 
deserved  no  evil."  ^ 

The  last  shred  of  separate  national  organisation  was 
now  gone,  and  for  some  years  history  is  dormant  in 
Scotland.  It  Avas  nearly  so  in  England  too.  The 
policy  of  Croni^elL  «and  his  body  of  able  assistants 
was  to  fuse  the  two  countries  into  one  republic.  The 
history  of  the  island  centred  in  its  achievements 
abroad,  and  in  these  Scotland  took  her  share.  It  was 
an  occasion  calling  forth  the  highest  ability;  for  Eng- 
land, having  no  longer  a  sovereign,  had  lost  position 
in  the  diplomatic  ranking  of  European  States,  and 
could  calculate  on  gaining  or  holding  nothing  save  by 
sheer  force.  Scotland  supplied  to  the  Commonwealth 
one  of  its  best  generals,  and  by  far  its  best  diploma- 
tist, in  Sir  William  Lockhart.  He  it  was  who  braved 
Richelieu,  and  made  the  Court  of  France  forget  its 
chivalry  in  a  close  alliance  with  the  Protectorate. 
By  an  achievement  uniting  both  military  and  diplo- 
matic skill,  he  took  Dunkirk  out  of  the  hands  both  of 
France  and  Spain.^ 

If  the  Scots  had  not  their  full  share  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  republic,  their  own  shyness  to  serve  in  it 
was  the  reason.  Warriston  brought  great  scandal  on 
himself  by  yielding  to  the  seductions  of  the  Protector. 
He  took  office,  and  became  a  member  of  Cromwell's 
House    of  Lords,  or  "the    other   House,"   as  it  was 

1  Letters,  &c.,  iii.  225,  226. 

■^  For  some  notices  of  Lockhart  the  author  refers  to  his  book  called 
'  The  Scot  Abroad;  ii.  230. 

VOL.  VII.  U 


306  COMMONWEALTH. 

called  ;  and  he  became  tlie  chairman  of  the  celebrated 
Committee  of  Public  Safety. 

The  Court  of  Session  was  superseded  by  a  com- 
mission of  justice.  Its  members  were  called  "  the 
English  judges,"  but  they  were  of  both  kingdoms. 
In  the  first  commission  there  were  four  Englishmen 
and  three  Scotsmen.  In  the  "precedents"  cited  by 
the  commentators  on  the  law,  or  brought  up  in 
pleadings  to  support  forensic  arguments,  the  deci- 
sions of  this  court  are  naturally  passed  by.  They 
left,  however,  an  impression  that  they  were  honest; 
and  there  is  a  well-known  anecdote  accounting  for 
this  virtue  without  allowing  merit  to  the  owners 
—  because  they  were  "  kinless  loons,"  or  persons 
under  no  pressure  of  family  influence  in  the  dis- 
charge of  their  duty.  There  is  another  tradition 
of  a  more  general  character — that  their  method  of 
procedure  did  much  to  create  the  voluminous  essays, 
mixing  uj)  law,  fact,  and  general  ethical  reasoning, 
which  came  to  be  a  heavy  reproach  to  the  method  of 
pleading  in  the  Scottish  courts  of  law.  The  men,  it 
was  said,  required  not  merely  to  be  reminded  of  the 
law,  like  learned  judges,  but  had  to  be  absolutely 
instructed  in  it.  A  collection  of  their  decisions  is 
preserved.  It  carries  the  impression  of  much  pains- 
taking, and  is  just  as  technical  and  absolutely  shut 
to  the  intelligence  of  the  uninitiated  as  many  of  the 
other  "  practics  "  of  undoubted  native  growth.^    This 

'  The  men  wlio  went  over  the  voluminous  pleadings,  abbreviated  in 
such  terms  as  these,  certainly  gave  testimony  to  their  earnest  intentions : 
"A  general  and  special  declarator  of  the  single  escheat  of  umquhile 
Mr  Patrick  Ruthven,  being  pursued  at  the  instance  of  John  Clerk,  mer- 
chant and  burgess  of  Edinburgh,  iigainst  the  tenants  of  Redcastle  and 
the  Laird  of  Ruthven.     Excepted  that   there  could  be  no  declarator, 


INCORPORATING    UNION,    1654-60.  307 

court  had  to  deal  with  a  great  revolution  in  the  law, 
to  be  presently  noticed — the  abolition  of  the  feudal 
system,  and  the  commutation  of  the  pecuniary  interests 
arising  out  of  the  obligations  thus  thrown  loose.  But 
perhaps  to  men  to  whom  the  old  part  of  the  law  was 
as  much  a  novelty  as  the  new,  this  duty  might  fall 
more  easily  than  on  the  experienced  adepts  trained  in 
an  old  established  system. 

In  the  few  years  of  quietness  thus  inaugurated,  the 
most  important  transaction  was  an  attempt  to  accom- 
plish an  incorporating  union  of  England  and  Scot- 
land. A  body  of  commissioners  was  sent  to  Scotland 
to  adjust  difHculties  and  endeavoru*  to  obtain  co-oper- 
ation in  the  proposed  union.  This  commission  con- 
tains eminent  names — it  consisted  of  Saint  John,  the 
younger  Vane,  General  Lambert,  General  Deane, 
General  ]\Ionk,  Colonel  Fenwick,  Alderman  Tichburne, 
and  Major  Sallowey.^  These  commissioners  desired 
that  delegates  might  be  sent  from  the  counties  and 
burghs,  chosen  like  commissioners  to  the  Estates,  to 
treat  with  them  on  the  proposed  union.  The  proposal 
was  received  with  lassitude  and  distaste  rather  than 
active  opposition.  Of  thirty-one  shires,  representatives 
came  from  eighteen,  and  of  fifty-six  burghs  twenty- 
four  were  represented.^  We  know  little  of  the  deliber- 
ations of  this  assembly  beyond  the  general  conclusion 

because  the  horning  whereon  the  gift  of  escheat  and  declarator  is 
grounded  bears  Sir  Francis  to  be  denounced  at  the  market-cross  of 
Edinburgh,  whereas  by  the  Act  of  Parliament  all  hornings  whereupon 
gifts  of  escheat  are  purchased  ought  to  be  used  at  the  market-cross  of 
the  head  burgh  where  the  party  denounced  dwells,"  &o. — Clerk  contra 
Ruthven,  30th  November  1655  ;  '  The  Decisions  of  the  English  Judges 
during  the  Usurpation,  from  the  year  1655  to  his  Majesty's  Restoration 
and  the  setting  dov^Ti  of  the  Session  in  .Tune  1661.     1762.' 

1  Whitelocke,  487.  -  Ibid.,  502. 


308  COMMONWEALTH. 

that  tlicy  gave  tUuir  assent  to  tlie  proposed  union. 
The  union  was  ratified  by  an  ordinance  of  the  Su- 
preme Council  of  tlie  Commonwealth  of  England  in 
1G.54.  It  proceeded  on  the  preamble,  that  "taking 
into  consideration  how  much  it  might  conduce  to  the 
glory  of  Cod  and  the  peace  and  welfare  of  the  people 
in  this  whole  island,  that,  after  all  those  late  and  un- 
happy wars  and  differences,  the  people  of  Scotland 
should  be  united  with  the  peoph;  of  England  into  one 
commonwealth  and  under  one  government;  ;i,nd  find- 
ing that  in  December  IG.'}!  the  Parliament  then  sitting 
did  send  commissioners  into  Scotland  to  invite  the 
people  of  that  nation  into  such  a  happy  union,  who 
})roceeded  so  far  therein  that  the  shires  and  burghs  of 
Scotland,  by  their  deputies  convened  at  Dalkeith,  and 
again  at  Edinburgh,  <lid  accept  of  the  said  union,  and 
assent  thereunto." 

The  fundamental  clause  of  the  ordinance  was, "  That 
all  the  people  of  Scotland,  an<l  of  the  Isles  of  Orkney 
and  Zetland,  and  of  all  the  dominions  and  territories 
belonging  unto  Scotland,  are,  and  shall  be,  and  are 
liereby,  incorporated  into,  constituted,  established,  de- 
clared, and  confirmed  one  commonwealth  with  Eng- 
land ;  and  in  every  Parliament  to  be  held  successively 
for  the  said  Commonwealth,  thirty  persons  shall  be 
called  from  and  serve  for  Scotland."  It  was  a  con- 
dition of  this  union,  that  Scotland  be  "  discharged  of 
all  fealty,  homage,  service,  and  allegiairce,  which  is  or 
shall  be  pretended  due  unto  any  of  the  issue  and 
posterity  of  Charles  Stewart,  late  King  of  England  and 
Scotland,  and  any  claiming  under  him." 

For  the  annorial  bearings  and  the  public  seals  of 
the  united   Commonwealth,  it  was  jirovideil  "  tliat  the 


INCORPORATING    UNION,    1654-60.  309 

arms  of  Scotland — viz.,  a  cross,  commonly  called  St 
Andrew's  cross — be  received  into  and  borne  from 
henceforth  in  the  arms  of  this  Commonwealth  as  a 
badge  of  this  nnion  ;  and  that  all  the  public  seals, 
seals  of  office,  and  seals  of  bodies  civil  or  corporate, 
in  Scotland,  which  heretofore  carried  the  arms  of  the 
kings  of  Scotland,  shall  from  thenceforth,  instead 
thereof,  carry  these  arms  of  the  Commonwealth." 

The  thirty  members  for  Scotland  stood  against 
four  hundred  for  England.  The  proportion  was  pro- 
bably unequal,  whether  measured  by  population  or 
wealth.  But  when  the  armed  command  held  by 
England  over  Scotland  at  that  time  is  looked  at, 
it  will  also  be  seen  that  there  was  courtesy  and  mo- 
deration in  the  scheme  which,  in  words,  if  not  in 
spirit,  treated  the  two  communities  as  independent 
contracting  parties.  Still  Scotland  dealt  with  this 
new  constitution  languidly.  Representatives  were 
sent  to  the  Parliament  of  1654 — twenty  from  the 
counties  and  ten  for  the  burghs.  It  is  observable, 
however,  that  several  of  these  representatives  were 
Englishmen — whether  to  save  the  expense  attending 
on  the  removal  of  Scotsmen  to  London,  or  from  some 
other  cause.  That  Parliament  was  impracticable 
under  the  other  conditions  of  the  Protectorate  Govern- 
ment, and  its  ephemeral  existence  is  a  small  section  of 
English  history.  AVith  this  Parliament  the  Union,  as  a 
representative  institution,  disappeared;  but  it  had  an- 
other form  of  action,  imparting  a  beneficence  of  which 
the  people  of  Scotland  were  too  unconscious  until 
they  lost  it  at  the  Pvestoration.  This  was  the  establish- 
ment of  free-trade  between  the  two  countries.  This 
great  boon  lies  almost  hidden  in  a  provision  of  the 


3IO  COMMONWEALTH. 

ordinance  :  "  That  all  customs,  excise,  and  other  im- 
posts for  goods  transported  from  England  to  Scotland, 
and  from  Sctjtland  to  England,  by  sea  or  land,  are 
and  shall  be  so  far  taken  off  and  discharged,  as  that 
all  goods  for  the  future  shall  pass  as  free,  and  with 
like  privileges,  and  with  the  like  charges  and  burthens, 
from  Enoiand  to  Scotland,  and  from  Scotland  to  Ene- 
land,  as  goods  passing  from  port  to  port,  or  place  to 
place,  in  England ;  and  that  all  goods  shall  and  may 
pass  between  Scotland  and  any  other  part  of  this 
Commonwealth  or  dominions  thereof  with  the  like 
privileges,  freedom,  and  charges,  as  such  goods  do  and 
shall  pass  between  England  and  the  said  parts  and 
dominions."  ^ 

Thus  commerce  was  as  free  between  Caithness  and 
Middlesex  as  between  Middlesex  and  Lancaster.  The 
great  arena  of  commercial  enterprise  centred  in  Eng- 
land was  opened  to  the  energetic  and  industrious 
Scots.  Of  the  beneficent  influence  likely  to  follow 
such  an  ojsening  up  in  a  period  of  profound  peace,  we 
can  only  form  an  estimate  by  remembering  the  rapid 
progress  in  wealth  and  civilisation  accruing  to  Scot- 
land when  the  Union  of  1707  got  free  action  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  insurrections  forty  years  afterwards. 
It  was  a  help  rather  than  an  impediment  to  the  influ- 
ence of  the  free-trade,  that,  in  conformity  with  Crom- 
well's military  policy,  the  country  was  dotted  with 
fortresses.  Raised  and  armed  according  to  the  most 
recent  defensive  science,  they  seemed  to  the  eye  less 
formidable  than  the  great  feudal  towers  dispersed  over 
the  country.  But  they  were  infinitely  more  powerful ; 
for  although  mere  earthen  mounds,  they  were  mounted 

'   Bruce,  Appendix  No.  xxvii.  p.  cciii. 


FREE-TRADE,    1654-60.  311 

with  heavy  cannon,  and  held  by  garrisons  well  drilled 
to  serve  them.  When,  as  we  shall  see,  the  High- 
landers were  restrained,  the  industrious  Lowlander 
could  raise  agricultural  produce  and  manufacture  mer- 
cantile commodities  undeterred  by  the  bitter  misgiv- 
ing that  any  night  the  whole  fruits  of  his  vigilance 
and  industry  might  disappear  in  pillage  and  destruc- 
tion. Under  these  conditions,  even  in  the  very 
few  years  while  they  lasted,  the  country  prospered. 
There  was  a  theoretical  discontent — a  latent  protes- 
tation against  the  whole  arrangement,  and  a  loyal 
desire  to  see  King  Charles  II.  restored.  But  it  had 
little  active  vitality  ;  and  perhaps  it  was  in  human 
nature  that  the  material  prosperity  of  the  people 
soothed  such  political  irritation  as  came  of  mere 
abstract  principles,  and  preserved  the  general  lull. 

There  is  an  interesting  example  of  this  spirit  of 
the  immediately  practical,  of  which  the  Protectorate 
Government  was  full,  in  a  document  bearing  the 
date  of  1656,  called  a  '  Eeport  by  Thomas  Tucker 
upon  the  Settlement  of  the  Eevenues  of  Excise  and 
Customs  in  Scotland.'^  In  the  language  of  the  dealer 
it  might  be  called  "  taking  stock  "  of  Scotland's  share 
in  the  new  partnership.  The  chief  object  was  no 
doubt  to  find  and  draw  upon  the  most  available 
sources  of  revenue ;  but  the  inquiry  to  this  end 
brought  forth  information  valuable  for  other  purposes. 
In  the  words  of  the  editor,  it  "  contains  some  curious 
and  apparently  very  authentic  information  relative  to 
the  trade  and  shipping  of  Scotland  in  the  year  1656  ;  " 
affording,  besides  the  proper  details  about  the  coUec- 

'  Printed  and  presented  to  the  Bannatyne  Club  by  John  Archiliald 
Murray,  afterwards  Lord  Murray,  in  1825. 


312  COMMONWEALTH. 

tion  of  the  customs  aud  excise,  some  account  "  of 
every  harbour  and  creek  upon  the  coast  to  which 
vessels  resorted  at  that  time." 

Tucker's  details — especially  about  shipping,  -which 
are  the  most  specific — afford  curious  elements  for  com- 
parison. The  trade  with  the  New  World  had  yet 
hardly  opened  on  the  west  coast,  and  the  great  bulk 
of  the  shipping  was  along  the  edge  of  the  German 
Ocean,  where  there  was  an  open  and  straight  seaway 
to  Denmark,  Korth  Germany,  Holland,  and  Scotland's 
ancient  ally.  The  great  trading  centre  was  the  Firth 
of  Forth,  and  Fifeshire  had  more  shipping  than  any 
other  county.  The  small  shallow  creeks,  unfit  to 
furnish  harbours  for  the  large  vessels  of  more  recent 
times,  were  a  shelter  and  haven  to  the  small  craft  of 
that  day,  as  they  are  to  the  fishing-busses  of  the 
present. 

Leith  was,  in  the  eye  of  Cromwell's  commissioner, 
the  natural  centre  of  trade  and  civilisation,  and  the 
hope  of  Scotland's  future.  The  place  was  strongly 
fortified  by  Cromwell ;  it  was  far  more  suitable  for  his 
school  of  fortification  than  the  castle  rock  of  Edin- 
burgh. The  commissioner's  comment  on  the  two  has 
some  interest  as  a  touch  of  the  utilitarian  spirit  of 
the  age  :  "  The  town  of  Leith  is  of  itself  a  pretty 
small  town,  and  fortified  about ;  having  a  convenient 
dry  harbour  into  which  the  Firth  ebbs  and  flows  every 
tide,  and  a  convenient  quay  on  the  one  side  thereof,  of 
a  good  length,  for  landing  of  goods.  This  place 
formerly,  and  so  at  this  time,  is  indeed  a  storehouse, 
not  only  for  her  own  traders,  but  also  for  the  mer- 
chants of  the  city  of  Edinburgh,  this  being  the  port 
thereof.      And  did  not  that  city,  jealous  of  her  own 


COMMERCE,  SHIPPING,  AND    REVENUE,   1654-60.      313 

satety,  obstruct  and  impede  the  growing  of  this  phice, 
it  would,  from  her  skive,  in  a  few  years  become  her 
rival.  For  as  certainly  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh  did 
first  give  the  rise  and  gT^)^^'th  to  that  city,  by  inviting- 
people  in  the  time  of  their  intestine  troubles  to  plant 
and  settle  there,  for  settling  themselves  under  the 
strength  and  security  thereof;  so  now,  in  time  of  peace, 
the  situation  of  this  toAvn,  and  all  other  circumstances 
concurring  to  the  rendering  it  fit  to  prove  the  most 
eminently  mercantile  and  trading  place  of  the  whole 
nation,  would  soon  invite  the  inhabitants  of  that  city 
to  descend  from  their  proud  hill  into  the  more  fruit- 
ful plain,  to  be  filled  with  the  fulness  and  fatness 
thereof."  1 

There  were  fourteen  vessels  in  Leith — the  largest 
number  in  any  port  in  Scotland.  Three  ports  next  in 
order,  as  each  possessing  twelve  vessels,  make  a  con- 
junction, much  altered  in  later  times  —  Montrose, 
Kirkcaldy,  and  Glasgow.  But  capacities  for  trade  are 
appearing  in  the  "  ^"enice  of  the  west "  :  "  This  town, 
seated  in  a  pleasant  and  fruitful  soil,  and  consisting 
of  four  streets  handsomely  built  in  form  of  a  cross,  is 
one  of  the  most  considerable  burghs  of  Scotland,  as 
well  for  the  structure  as  trade  of  it.  The  inhabitants, 
all  but  the  students  of  the  college  which  is  here,  are 
traders  and  dealers — some  for  Ireland  with  small 
smiddy  coals  in  open  boats  from  four  to  ten  tons, 
from  Avlience  they  bring  hoops,  rungs,  barrel-staves, 
meal,  oats,  and  butter ;  some  for  France  ^^•ith  plad- 
ding,  coals,  and  herring,  of  which  there  is  a  great  fish- 
ing yearly  in  the  western  sea,  for  which  they  return 
salt,  paper,  rosin,  and  prunes ;  some  to  Korway  for 


314  COMMONWEALTH. 

timber ;  and  every  one  with  their  neighbours  the 
Highhmders,  who  come  hither  from  the  Isles  and 
western  parts." 

There  is  a  brief  note  of  the  germ  —  puny  and 
precarious — of  the  great  Transatlantic  trade  of  the 
Clyde  :  "  Here  hath  likewise  been  some  who  have 
adventured  as  far  as  Barbadoes ;  but  the  losses  they 
have  sustained  by  reason  of  their  going  out  and 
coming  home  late  every  year,  have  made  them  dis- 
continue going  thither  any  more."  ^ 

In  Renfrew  there  are  "  three  or  four  boats  of  five  or 
six  tons  apiece ; "  and  "  in  Irvine  three  or  four,  the 
biggest  not  exceeding  sixteen  tons."  There  is  no 
more  shipping  on  the  west  coast,  but  it  is  noticed 
that  English  traders  are  frequenting  the  estuary  of 
the  Clyde. 

It  fell  to  Mr  Tucker  and  the  other  commissioners 
of  the  revenue  to  deal  with  a  curious  social  pheno- 
menon. The  revenue  was  farmed,  so  that  its  collection 
fell  to  the  highest  bidder  who  was  in  a  position  to 
carry  his  offer  into  eflfect.  The  competition  was  keen, 
but  of  a  j)eculiar  kind.  It  worked  itself  into  con- 
junction with  the  feudal  spirit  of  the  country.  The 
great  man,  or  the  man  Avho  was  trying  to  make  him- 
self great  by  aggrandising  himself  in  lands  and 
seignorial  rights,  sought  the  power  of  collecting  the 
taxes  as  a  valuable  acquisition  for  furthering  his 
objects.  It  made  a  material  addition  to  the  power  he 
had  before.  Now,  however,  the  customs  were  to  be 
recast,  and,  with  the  new  duty  of  excise,  to  be  used 
for  materially  increasing  the  revenue.  To  this  end, 
on  a  mere  pecuniary  consideration,  English  adventur- 

1  Page  38. 


COMMERCE,  SHIPPING,  AND    REVENUE,  1654-60.      315 

ers  would  be  the  more  suitable  farmers,  but  they  did 
not  know  the  nature  of  the  people  : — 

"Therefore,  duly  weighing  as  well  the  quality  of 
the  farmers  as  having  a  regard  to  the  temper  and 
humour  of  the  people,  and  finding  part  of  the  farmers 
to  be  English  and  not  acquainted  either  with  the 
thing,  persons,  or  places,  and  the  rest  Scots,  and  in 
this  respect  more  qualified  and  less  obnoxious,  but 
naturally  rigid  exacters,  apt  to  avenge  private  quarrels 
or  discontents  under  colour  or  pretext  of  public  em- 
ployment, and  most  of  them  generally  strangers  to 
the  particular  work  in  which  they  engaged.  And 
considering  withal  the  people  on  the  other  side, 
through  poverty  and  an  innate  habit  of  their  own,  to 
be  cross,  obstinate,  clamorous,  and  prone  to  apprehend 
every  action  an  oppression  or  injury,  and  again  to 
repel  both  either  Avith  noise  or  force.  "^ 

The  commissioners  resolved  to  try  a  middle  course 
— to  farm  the  revenues,  but  to  reserve  to  themselves 
that  ultimate  power  of  enforcement  which  they  saw 
to  be  productive  of  many  social  irritations :  "  To 
reserve  the  judicial  part  in  themselves,  and  to  give 
the  farmer  only  the  collective  power,  which  was 
done   accordingly." 

The  result  of  this  project  was  utter  failure ;  and  as 
the  Commonwealth  could  not  aff"ord  to  lose  a  revenue 
for  the  sake  of  social  quiet  and  good  fellowship,  the 
farmers  were,  in  the  significant  language  of  the  com- 
missioner, "  let  loose  "  again  upon  their  natural  victims 
and  enemies :  "  Very  few  or  none  would  pay  any 
moneys,  suffer  any  distress,  or  obey  any  summons  ; 
insomuch  that  the  commissioners  were   enforced  to 


Page  12. 


3l6  COMMONWEALTH. 

retract  their  former  resolutions,  and  to  let  the  farmers 
loose  to  the  full  execution  of  all  the  powers  and 
authorities  of  the  several  Acts  and  ordinances,  but 
against  and  upon  such  only  as  should  refuse  to  give 
due  obedience,  that  so  they  might  have  a  just  sense 
that  the  commissioners  did  still  retain  and  should  have 
continued  their  first  tenderness  towards  them."  The 
result  was,  that  "  every  one,  acted  by  his  fear  and  the 
expectation  he  had  of  suffering  the  penalties  of  the 
law,  began  to  provide  for  his  own  peace  and  security 
by  a  timely  conforming,  and  so  made  way  for  the 
more  easy  and  vigorous  carrying  on  of  things  in  the 
future."  1 

We  have  here  a  very  expressive  token  of  the  power- 
fu]  pressure  attained  in  the  seventeenth  century  by 
the  feudal  system  in  Scotland,  where  indeed  it  was 
at  all  times  more  effective  than  the  prerogative  or 
any  other  central  authority.  Perhaps  those  who  were 
so  eager  to  farm  the  revenue  expected  thus  to  obtain 
comjjensation  for  the  loss  of  the  feudal  prerogatives 
in  their  old  established  form.  Among  the  projects 
of  the  Protectorate  completed  upon  paper  was  the 
sweeping  away  of  the  whole  complex  machinery  of 
the  feudal  system  in  Scotland.  In  the  first  place, 
there  was  to  be  a  restraint  on  the  feudal  power  of 
the  territorial  chiefs,  by  abolishing  those  portions 
of  their  authority  which  made  them  judges  in 
courts  of  law,  and  entitled  them  to  the  military 
attendance  of  their  vassals.  In  mere  technical  lan- 
guage, it  was  the  abolition  of  heritable  jurisdictions 
and  of  military  service.  It  left  to  the  feudal  superior 
all  that  he  was  entitled  to  in  the  shape  of  beneficiary 

1  Pase  13. 


ABOLITION    OF    FEUDALITY,    1654-60.  317 

profit — all  that  consisted  in  money,  or  civil  services 
convertible  into  money.  The  vassals  holding  under 
any  deeds  or  charters  were  to  continue  to  hold  "by 
and  under  such  yearly  rents,  boons,  and  annual  ser- 
vices as  are  mentioned  and  due  by  any  deeds,  patents, 
charters,  or  enfeoffments  now  in  being,  of  the  respec- 
tive lands  therein  expressed,  or  by  virtue  thereof 
enjoyed,  without  rendering,  doing,  or  performing  any 
other  duty,  vassalage,  or  command  Avhatsoever." 
Thus,  upon  paper  at  least,  the  Government  of  the 
Protectorate  achieved  that  social  reconstruction 
which,  on  its  actually  coming  into  effect  after  the 
suppression  of  the  insurrections,  received  unanimous 
applause  from  politicians  and  historians.'-  But  the 
restraint  of  the  military  and  judicial  power  of  the 
feudal  lords  was  not  all.  Commerce  in  land  was  to 
be  freed  from  impediments.  Tracts  of  land  were 
in  a  state  of  transition  from  "  roums,"  or  realms,  as 
they  used  to  be  called,  to  be  estates  in  the  modern 
sense  of  the  term.  The  feudal  system  was  a  heavy 
burden  on  commerce  in  this  sort  of  valuable  property. 
The  system  had  been  invented  for  military  tenure,  and 
was  hostile  to  anything  that  deprived  the  overlord  of 
his  proper  vassal.  The  person  who  desired  to  pur- 
chase an  estate  had  hence  heavy  impediments  in  his 
way,  and  he  could  only  overcome  them  by  a  sort  of 
bribery,  or  the  payment  of  a  "casualty."  The  old 
military  notion  clung  so  closely  to  all  questions  of 
land-right,  that  the  person  who  had  thus  got  over  the 
feudal  difficulties,  and  put  himself  in  possession  as 
actual  owner  and  occupant  of  the  land,  was  said  to 

'  The  ordinance  will  be  found  in  Scobell's  Collection,  and  in  the  Ap- 
pendix (No.  xxvii.  p.  cciii)  of  Bruce's  Report  on  the  Union. 


3l8  COMMONWEALTH. 

have  acquired  it  by  "  conquest,"  to  distinguish  him 
from  the  hereditary  successor  to  a  family  domain  ; 
and  the  term  "  conquest "  has  remained  in  use  down 
to  the  present  time.  Thus  this  project  contemplated 
not  only  the  extinction  of  the  military  command  over 
their  vassals  belonging  to  the  superiors,  and  also  of 
their  jurisdiction  over  them  as  hereditary  judges,  but 
it  went  still  farther.  It  cut  away  all  the  nomen- 
clature and  usages  of  the  system,  so  that  even  for  the 
mere  purj)ose  of  accommodating  the  feudal  system  to 
the  commerce  in  land,  there  should  be  no  such  rela- 
tion as  sujDcrior  and  vassal.^  It  enables  one  to  realise 
the  breadth  of  such  a  project,  to  say  that,  after  count- 
less statutes  modifying  and  adjusting  the  feudal 
usages  to  modern  utility,  this  conclusive  extinction  of 
its  vestiges  is  at  the  present  moment  making  its  way 
through  Parliament. 

As  in  this  measure,  so  in  that  of  the  Protectorate 
— there  was  provision  for  everything  that  could  be 

'  "  That  all  and  every  the  heritors  and  others,  the  persons  aforesaid 
and  heirs,  are  and  shall  he  for  ever  hereafter  freed  and  discharged  of 
and  from  all  suits,  and  appearing  at  or  in  any  of  their  lords'  or  superiors' 
courts  of  justiciary,  regality,  stewartry,  barony,  bailiary,  heritable 
sheriffship,  heritable  admiralty  —  all  which  together,  with  all  other 
offices,  heritable  or  for  life,  are  hereby  abolished  and  taken  away ;  and 
that  all  and  every  the  heritors  and  persons  aforesaid  and  their  heirs  are 
and  shall  be  for  ever  hereafter  freed  and  discharged  of  and  from  all 
military  service  and  personal  attendance  upon  any  their  lords  or  supe- 
riors in  expeditions  or  travels,  and  of  all  casualties  of  wards,  lands 
formerly  held  of  the  king  and  other  superiors,  and  of  the  marriage, 
single  and  double,  avail  thereof,  nonentries,  compositions  for  entries,  and 
of  all  rights  and  casualties  payable  if  they  be  demanded  only,  or  upon 
the  committing  of  any  clause  irritant ;  and  that  the  said  heritors  and 
persons  aforesaid  be  now  and  from  henceforth  construed,  reputed, 
adjudged,  and  declared  free  and  acquitted  thereof." — Bruce's  Report  on 
the  Union,  p.  ccx. 


ABOLITION    OF    FEUDALITY,    1654-60.  319 

deemed  a  vested  interest,  if  it  were  in  a  shape  to  be 
estimated  in  money.  The  investigations  for  the  ac- 
complishment of  this  revolution  were  probably  what 
revealed  a  valuable  institution  for  facilitating  and  pro- 
tecting the  commerce  in  land  in  Scotland — an  institu- 
tion struggling  now  into  existence  in  England,  and 
anticipated  by  Cromwell.  This  was  the  system  of  Re- 
gistration. Its  germ  is  in  an  institution  of  the  Empire. 
The  notaries,  Avho  were  imperial  ofhcers,  were  bound 
to  keep  protocol-books  containing  transcripts  of  the 
deeds  and  documents  prepared  by  them.  On  this 
usage  was  raised  a  system  of  records  of  land-rights,  in 
which  the  record  was  the  supreme  title,  not  to  be  con- 
tradicted by  an  unrecorded  private  deed.^  When 
Cromwell  attempted  an  imitation  of  this  system 
in  England,  he  found  that  "the  sons  of  Zeruiah," 
meaning  the  common  lawyers,  were  too  strong  for 
him.  ^ 

These  things  testify  to  much  enlightened  fore- 
thouoht ;  but  we  must  look  both  at  what  was  given  as 
well  as  what  was  taken  away,  before  we  determine 
that  the  great  Protector  Avas  more  than  two  hundred 
years  beyond  his  age.  When  he  extinguished  the 
feudal  powers  throughout  the  country,  he  laid  down 

1  See  "  A  Notice  on  the  Subject  of  Protocol-books  as  connected  with 
Public  Records,"  by  David  Laing,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  Scot.  ;  Proceedings  of 
the  Soc.  of  Ant.  of  Scotland,  iii.  350. 

^  The  method  in  which  this  strength  was  sho^vn  is  described  by  Lud- 
low with  thorough  distinctness  :  "  Upon  the  debate  of  registering  deeds 
in  each  county,  for  want  of  which,  within  a  certain  time  fixed  after  the 
sale,  such  sales  should  be  void,  and  being  so  registered,  that  land  should 
not  be  subject  to  any  incumbrance.  This  word  'incumbrance'  was  so 
managed  by  the  lawyers  that  it  took  up  three  months'  time  before  it 
could  be  ascertained  by  the  committee."— Vol.  i.  370. 


330  COMMONWEALTH. 

ill  it  tweuty-eight  fortresses,  and  kept  in  them  per- 
maneut  garrisons  ont  of  an  army  varying  from  five  to 
nine  thonsaud  men.  AYliile  this  was  the  necessary 
alternative,  it  is  an  open  question  whether  the  time 
for  the  entire  abolition  of  feudality  in  Scotland  had 
yet  come.  At  the  same  time,  an  organisation  re- 
sembling the  Justice  of  Peace  system  in  England 
was  created  for  Scotland  by  an  ordinance  for  the 
erection  of  Courts  Baron,  to  be  administered  by  that 
class  whose  feudal  authority  had  been  suppressed. 

The  central  power  of  the  new  Government  enabled 
it  to  accomplish  other  measures  of  advantage  unc^ues- 
tionable.  There  had  been  some  early  attempts  to 
open  postal  communication  between  England  and 
Scotland  with  but  slight  success.  In  1656  the  ser^-ice 
Avas  organised,  in  fulfilment  of  reasons  well  and  briefly 
put  thus : — 

"Whereas  it  hath  been  found  by  experience,  that 
the  erecting  and  settling  of  one  General  Post-Olfice, 
for  the  speedy  conveying,  carrying,  and  recarrying 
letters  by  post  to  and  from  all  places  within  England, 
Scotland,  and  Ireland,  and  into  several  parts  bej-ond 
the  seas,  hath  been  and  is  the  best  means,  not  only  to 
maintain  a  certain  and  constant  intercourse  of  trade 
and  commerce  bet'ndxt  all  the  said  places,  to  the  gxeat 
benefit  of  the  people  of  these  nations,  but  also  to  con- 
vey the  public  despatches,  and  to  discover  and  prevent 
many  dangerous  and  wicked  designs  which  have  been 
and  are  daily  contrived  against  the  peace  and  welfare 
of  this  Commonwealth." — 

By  the  ordinance  so  announced,  the  organisation 
was  put  under  the  direction  of  "  a  postmaster- 
general "  and  "a  comptroller  of  the  post-office."     A 


DEALING    WITH    THE    CHURCH,    1653-58.        321 

scale  of  charges  was  established,  among  which  the 
IKjstage  of  a  single  letter  between  Scotland  and  London 
was  fixed  at  fourpence.^ 

The  plan  for  the  Union  was  accompanied  by  efforts 
to  reconstruct  the  Church.  The  closing  of  the  General 
Assembly  was  like  clearing  the  inhabitants  out  of  a 
street  on  fire.^  But  if  the  clergy  were  saved  from  a 
conflagration,  mischief  of  another  kind  must  arise  if 
they  were  left  unregulated  to  act  separately,  or  in  small 
groups  as  presbyteries.  There  must  be  some  central 
power  to  regulate  the  action  of  these  separate  corpora- 
tions, or  of  the  respective  clergy  if  they  were  to  act 
in  isolation,  otherwise  there  would  be  infringements 
and  strife.  There  were  questions  about  temporalities, 
and  the  due  appointment  to  these  along  with  the 
functions  of  the  ministry,  which  could  not  be  left  to 
spontaneous  action  in  each  parish.  Some  central  tri- 
bunal, whether  clerical  or  secular,  must  adjust  them. 

But  what  suggested  the  closing  of  the  Assembly 
left  difficulties  in  the  path  of  any  adjustment.  The 
two  contending  parties — the  Resolutioners  and  Pro- 
testers— though  restrained  from  flying  at  each  other's 
throats,  continued,  in  their  compulsory  restraint,  to 
nourish  their  hatred  of  each  other,  and  were  each  pre- 
pared to  recommence  the  war  of  extirpation  whenever 

'  Ordinance  of  the  Protector  in  Parliament,  17th  December  1656. 

^  The  historian  of  the  sufferings  entered  this  memorandum  in  his 
private  note-book :  "  I  find  some  that  favour  the  memory  of  Oliver  Crom- 
well, excuse  the  acting  of  Cromwell  in  this  Church,  and  say  they  were 
out  of  kindness.  That  he  would  not  suffer  any  more  General  Assemblies 
to  sit  alter  1652,  because  they  would  have  deposed  one  another,  and  the 
rent  would  have  still  increased.  That  he  indicted  fasts  and  thanksgiv- 
ini'S  himself,  and  prescribed  the  days  and  causes,  out  of  a  regard  to  the 
peace  of  the  Church,  because,  as  he  thought,  the  Protesters  and  Resolu- 
tioners would  make  each  other  causes  of  their  fasting." — Analecta,  i.  274. 

VOL.  VII.  X 


322  COMMONWEALTH. 

a  clear  arena  was  opened  to  them.  For  the  ends  of 
the  Protector's  Government  there  was  a  perplexing 
cross  -  play  of  compatibilities  and  incompatibilities 
between  the  two.  The  Protesters,  who  abjnred  Charles 
Stewart,  seemed  in  that  act  to  be  open  for  alliance 
with  the  Commonwealth ;  but  they  abjured  also  all 
interference  by  the  civil  power  with  that  great  area 
of  dominion  claimed  by  them  for  the  authority  of  the 
spiritual  power,  and  these  claims  were  not  easily  com- 
patible with  the  supremacy  of  the  Commonwealth. 
The  other  party  were  more  amenal)le  to  civil  rule ;  but 
what  they  wanted  was  the  civil  rule  of  the  old  Scots 
line  of  kings.  Cromwell  called  up  leading  men  from 
both  sides,  and  held  conferences  with  them.  As  these 
discussions  had  no  distinctive  permanent  influence, 
they  are  not  likely  to  interest  any  but  those  Avho  study 
the  more  obscure  intricacies  of  Church  history.  What 
appears  on  the  surface  is,  that  Cromwell  found  the 
Resolution  party  the  more  tractable  of  the  two.  One 
member  of  this  party,  afterwards  famous,  began  at 
this  time  to  found  an  influence  which  helped  him  into 
the  sinister  path  of  his  celebrity — this  was  James 
Sharp.  He  either  was,  or  made  himself  appear  to  be, 
so  well  listened  to  at  the  Protectorate  Court,  that  he 
was  believed  to  be  the  proper  man  to  represent  his 
party  there  when  any  crisis  should  come.  The  end  of 
the  conferences  was,  that  an  ordinance  was  issued  in 
1654,  "taking  away,"  as  a  succinct  clerical  author  puts 
it,  "the  ordinary  powers  of  Church  courts  previously 
established,  and  dividing  Scotland  into  five  precincts, 
in  every  one  of  which  a  few  ministers,  with  others, 
were  appointed  to  give  testimony  in  order  to  the  ad- 
mission   of  ministers   (four  being    sufficient  for  this 


DEALING   WITH    THE    CHURCH,    1653-58.         323 

charge  in  every  province),  so  that  ten  ministers  and 
ten  other  persons  might  exercise  the  power  of  plant- 
ing churches  for  the  whole  of  Scotland."  ^ 

The  Government  had  the  command  of  the  stipend, 
the  manse,  and  the  church  itself ;  and  if  it  could  not 
well  raise  the  question  how  far  a  suspected  minister 
should  be  permitted  to  retain  possession,  it  could  put 
a  practical  veto  on  the  new  man  wherever  there  came 
a  vacancy.  That  the  Protesting  or  Eemonstrant  party 
were  hostile  to  Charles  Stewart,  while  the  Resolu- 
tioners  befriended  him,  naturally  influenced  the  result, 
even  although  the  Government  woidd  have  preferred 
alliance  with  the  Eesolutioners.  Thus  Baillie  in  his 
lamentations  says  :  "  When  a  very  few  of  the  Remon- 
strants and  Independent  party  will  call  a  man,  he  gets 
the  kirk  and  the  stipend ;  but  when  the  presbytery, 
and  well  near  the  whole  congregation,  call  and  admit, 
he  must  preach  in  the  fields  or  in  a  barn  without 
stipend."  ^  The  question  of  praying  for  the  king, 
naturally  declared  to  be  an  offence  against  the  Pro- 
tectorate Government,  forced  these  questions  of  eccle- 
siastical politics  on  those  most  desirous  to  let  them 
alone.  This  was  a  negative  duty  to  which  the  Re- 
monstrants were  ready  to  conform.  But  the  old 
Covenanting  party  held  by  him  whom  they  had  them- 
selves made  a  Covenanting  king,  and  in  many  in- 
stances sacrificed  themselves  by  continuing  to  pray 
for  him  by  name. 

Some  difficulties,  created  by  their  political  condition, 
in  reference  to  one  great  religious  principle  where 
they  were  in  harmony,  may  have  a  harsh  sound  in  the 

'  Principal  Lee's  Lectures  on  the  Church  of  Scotland,  ii.  376. 
^  Letters,  ii.  371. 


324  COMMONWEALTH. 

present  day  ;  but  it  is  one  tliat  ought  to  be  listened  to, 
if  we  would  understand  fully  the  spirit  of  the  period. 
Both  parties  had  a  hearty  horror  of  the  new  doctrine  of 
toleration.  But  when  the  Remonstrants  sought  favour 
Avith  the  existing  rulers,  were  they  not  conniving 
Avith  that  swarm  of  sectaries  in  which  the  detested 
doctrine  had  been  born  and  bred  ?  The  difficulty  was 
rendered  all  the  more  grotesque  by  this,  that  the 
Remonstrant  party  were  far  more  fierce  and  vehement 
in  their  testimony  against  toleration  than  the  old 
Presbyterians,  who  had  something  like  a  misgiving 
towards  a  very  clamorous  proclamation  of  that  pecu- 
liar article  of  their  faith.  So  far  on  in  the  Church's 
l)ondage  as  the  11th  of  April  1659,  Baillie  says: 
"  Understanding  a  design  of  the  Remonstrants,  some 
weeks  before  the  Synod,  to  have  a  petition  sent  up  to 
the  Protector  and  Parliament  against  toleration,"  he 
calls  on  his  friends  to  beware  of  that  design,  giving 
reasons,  of  which  a  portion  will  suffice  :  "  This  peti- 
tion will  be  a  formal  address  to  the  present  power  as 
the  supreme  magistrate,  which  no  Church  judicature 
in  Scotland  had  ever  yet  attempted."  "  The  petition 
to  preserve  that  part  of  our  Covenant  which  tolera- 
tion destroys,  with  silence  of  all  other  articles  of  our 
Covenant  Avhich  now  are  openly  laid  aside  and  de- 
stroyed, does  avow  our  contentment  with,  or  neglect 
of,  the  violation  of  the  other  ai'ticles  against  which  we 
do  not  petition."  He  suspects  that  such  a  testimony 
against  toleration  cannot  be  "  full,"  looking  to  those 
it  is  addressed  to,  since  "  we  must  be  silent  of  Inde- 
pendents, Anabaptists,  and  Erastians,  these  being  the 
chief  statesmen  who  must  agent  our  petition."  ^ 

'  Letters,  &c.,  iii.  393. 


glencairn's  expedition,  1653-54.         325 

The  somewhat  gloomy  quietness  following  the  paci- 
fication and  the  firm  establishment  of  the  Protectorate 
was  disturbed  by  an  affair  known  as  "  Glencairn's 
Expedition."  William  Cuningham,  Lord  Glencairn, 
applied  to  the  exiled  Charles  for  a  commission  to  com- 
mand such  a  force  as  he  might  o-ather  in  Scotland. 
The  careless  exile  could  see  no  harm  to  himself  in 
granting  such  a  request,  and  in  August  1653  Glen- 
cairn appeared  in  the  ^Yest  Highlands  as  the  royal 
commander-in-chief  The  project  at  once  declares 
itself  as  an  imitation  of  Montrose's  expedition  of  ten 
years  earlier,  but  it  was  a  very  bad  imitation.  Such 
achievements  depend  on  the  man  who  can  invent  the 
most  effective  combination  for  the  occasion,  and  arc 
not  available  to  the  mere  imitator.  The  Highlanders 
were  of  course  ready  to  join  in  hostility  to  a  Govern- 
ment which  brought  them  under  the  direst  of  all  rules 
in  compelling  them  to  be  at  peace  and  abstain  from 
plunder.  Several  heads  of  clans  brought  a  follow- 
ing with  them.  Glengary  came  with  two  hundred, 
Cameron  of  Lochiel  and  Lord  Athole  with  a  hundred 
horse  and  twelve  hundred  foot.  But  it  was  said  that 
the  Highland  leaders  seemed  more  desirous  to  com- 
mand than  to  obey — in  short,  they  did  not  find  them- 
selves under  the  master  who  could  handle  a  Highland 
army,  and  were  therefore  useless. 

He  was  superseded,  and  the  command  conferred  on 
Middleton,  who  had  been  originally  intended  for  it. 
Lie  was  a  man  of  a  soldierly  type  who  had  seen  hard 
service,  and  was  not,  as  we  shall  have  opportunity  of 
seeing,  very  scrupulous.  When  he  arrived  at  the 
camp  a  muster  was  ordered,  "that  he  might  examine 
how  the  men   were  armed  and  mounted,  and  know 


326  COMMONWEALTH. 

with  certainty  wliat  he  had  to  depend  upon.  They 
were  mustered,  accordingly,  about  the  middle  of 
]\Iarch ;  and  their  number  consisted  of  three  thousand 
five  hundred  foot  and  one  thousand  five  hundred  horse, 
three  hundred  of  which  were  not  well  mounted  or 
armed." 

The  new  general  was  presently  Avitness  to  a  scene 
that  exemplified  the  character  of  the  army  handed 
over  to  him.  It  was  at  a  banquet  given  by  Glencairn 
at  his  headquarters  at  Dornoch.  The  entertainer 
called  a  toast  to  "  the  gallant  army  "  which  he  and 
his  friends  "  had  raised  out  of  nothing."  Immediately 
Sir  George  Monro  started  from  his  seat,  and  interrupt- 
ing Lord  Glencairn,  said:  "By  God!  the  men  you  speak 
of  are  no  other  than  a  pack  of  thieves  and  robbers — ■ 
in  a  short  time  I  will  show  you  other  sort  of  men." 
There  was  a  competition  for  the  honour  of  resenting 
this,  but  the  quarrel  remained  between  Glencairn  and 
Monro.  Then  follows  the  delivery  of  a  challenge  with 
a  picturesqueness  that  might  suit  a  novel-writer. 
There  is  a  merry  supper  with  the  Laird  of  Ducherie, 
his  daughter  playing  on  the  virginals — the  piano  of 
the  day.  Monro's  brother  appears,  and  is  heartily 
received  by  Glencairn,  who  "  saluted  him  at  the  hall- 
door  as  being  very  welcome,  and  made  him  sup  with 
him,  placing  him  at  the  head  of  the  table  next  the 
laird's  daughter.  The  whole  company  were  very 
merry.  Immediately  after  supper  he  told  Monro  that 
he  would  give  him  a  spring  if  he  would  dance — which 
accordingly  he  did,  the  laird's  daughter  playing. 
Whilst  the  rest  were  dancing,  his  lordship  stepped 
aside  to  the  window  and  Monro  followed.  They  did 
not  sj)eak  a  dozen  words  together."     Thus  they  con- 


glencairn's  expedition,  1653-54.         327 

certed  a  duel  fought  with  bloody  bitterness,  and  only 
not  fatal  because  Monro  was  disabled  and  the  hand  of 
the  other  held  from  slaying  him. 

One  advantasje  came  from  a  change  of  commanders. 
The  new  man  was  not  to  be  responsible  for  keeping 
what  had  never  been  gained.  Accordingly,  like  a 
new  steward  entering  in  possession,  he  rendered  an 
account  of  the  condition  of  the  enterprise,  and  thus 
dispelled  some  flattering  visions :  "  Exaggerated  reports 
had  been  sent  to  Holland  of  the  number  of  men  in  arms 
— they  were  only  prophetically,  not  actually,  true  ;  and 
if  Middleton  had  not  hastened  over,  and  previously 
sent  Major-General  Drummond,  things  had  not  lived 
long."  "  Middleton  has  a  hard  task  to  a  great  dis- 
advantage, but  has  hitherto  managed  it  so  well  that 
there  is  no  doubt  of  success.  The  business,  although 
its  growth  is  not  hasty,  is  in  constitution  healthy  and 
strong ;  nor  is  its  stature  so  contemptible  as  to  expose 
it  to  scorn."  Such  was  the  tenor  of  the  reports  to 
the  exiled  Court,  and  evidently  they  were  not  likely 
to  excite  hope  or  enthusiasm.^ 

Middleton,  a  thorough  child  of  the  Thirty  Years' 
War — an  apt  pupil  in  its  school  of  cruelty  and  rapacity 
— was  to  do  something  to  conciliate  the  Covenanters. 
He  had  experience  of  their  ways  when  he  was  excom- 
municated, and  had  to  do  penance  in  sackcloth  to  re- 
gain his  rights  as  a  free  citizen;  he  was  to  have 
fm'ther  experience  of  them  as  the  hand  by  which  they 
were  to  be  scourged  when  his  master  regained  his  own. 
Of  this  consummation  the  very  policy  he  was  to  pur- 

1  Account  of  the  Proceedings  of  Middleton's  Forces  in  Scotland  ; 
Macray's  Calendar  of  Clarendon  State  Papers  (prescribed  in  the  Bod- 
leian Library),  ii.  371. 


328  COMMONWEALTH. 

sue  is  ominously  suggestive  of  what  Avas  then  to  come  : 
"  It  is  hoped  to  induce  the  ministers  to  preach  against 
the  rebels  and  undeceive  the  people,  whose  affections 
have  been  strangely  won  by  their  smoothness ;  but, 
nevertheless,  Mr  Presbyter  will  never  be  allowed 
again  to  sit  at  the  helm  as  he  formerly  did,  although, 
as  things  now  are,  too  much  severity  and  open  dis- 
avowing that  way  would  be  very  destructive."^ 

Monk  took  this  affair  with  his  usual  deliberate  cau- 
tion. He  detached  a  force  of  three  thousand  —  six 
hundred  of  them  being  horse  —  to  deal  with  the 
Royalist  army.  It  went  in  two  divisions — one  led  by 
himself,  the  other  by  General  Morgan.  Their  policy 
was  to  keep  strong  parties  well  supplied  at  Inverness, 
Perth,  and  the  other  gates  of  the  Highlands,  so  that 
Middleton's  army  should  be  driven  back  into  the  moun- 
tains if  they  attempted  to  reach  the  low  country.  This 
force  was  sufficient  easily  to  crush  the  Royalists'  force  if 
it  could  be  reached.  Monk's  troops  were  not  well  suited 
for  Highland  warfare,  and  therefore  wisely  attempted 
it  as  little  as  possible.  But  the  incapacity  of  their 
enemy  gave  them  an  opportunity.  By  some  blunder- 
ing on  both  sides,  Morgan's  party  and  the  Highlanders 
stumbled  against  each  other  on  the  banks  of  Loch- 
garry.     In  the  words  of  the  historian  of  the  expedi- 

1  Macray's  Calendar  of  Clarendon  State  Papers,  ii.  371.  Middleton 
seems  to  have  tried  his  hand  on  something  like  a  testimony,  but  with 
poor  success.  A.  copy  of  "  a  declaration  hastily  drawn  up  by  Middle- 
ton  "  is  sent  to  the  Court,  with  an  explanation  that  "  he  showed  it 
yesterday  to  some  of  the  young  Presbyters  who  had  a  meeting  in 
Thurso,  who,  after  a  perusal  and  two  or  three  deep  '  gryes,'  said  there 
was  not  enough  concerning  religion.  Middleton  replied  that  it  was 
only  occasional,  and  not  intended  for  a  set  declaration  which  leaves  them 
in  hopes  of  great  performances  that  way.  But  other  friends  advise  him 
to  be  very  tender  there — to  use  only  general  words,  and  not  to  make  it 
his  practice  to  communicate  such  things." — Ibid.,  373. 


glencairn's  expedition,  1653-54.         329 

tion,  "  The  king's  army  marched  to  Lochgarry,  near 
which  there  was  a  small  town  where  they  were  to 
encamp  all  night.  But  Morgan,  who  intended  to  rest 
in  the  same  place,  had  gained  it  before  Middleton, 
and  having  no  intelligence  of  each  other,  the  king's 
vanguard  and  Morgan's  outer  guard  immediately  en- 
gaged. There  was  no  ground  for  drawing  up;  for  on 
the  one  side  the  loch  hemmed  them  in,  and  on  the, 
other  the  ground  was  all  morass,  so  that  no  horse 
could  ride  it ;  and  the  way  by  the  loch-side  was  so 
narrow  that  two  or  three  only  could  ride  abreast. 
Middleton,  j&nding  this,  ordered  his  rear  to  face  about, 
so  that  our  van  became  our  rear ;  and  the  English 
gentlemen  in  our  army  being  then  in  the  rear,  did 
behave  most  gallantly.  Morgan  pursued  very  close. 
At  last  he  made  himself  master  of  the  general's 
sumptuary,  where  was  his  commission  and  all  his 
other  papers.  He  pressed  so  hard  that  the  king's 
army  ran  as  fast  as  they  could  and  in  great  confusion. 
There  was  no  great  slaughter,  as  night  came  on  soon 
after  they  were  engaged.  Every  man  shifted  for  him- 
self and  went  where  he  best  liked."  ^ 

Middleton,    tired    of  such    work,  returned   to    the 
exiled  Court ;  hence  Glencairn  had  to  finish  the  pro- 

'  Military  Memoirs,  138.  It  is  scarcely  possible  to  connect  with  this 
affair  the  preposterous  news  received  by  the  exiled  Court,  and  yet  there 
is  no  other  to  which  it  will  better  fit :  "  It  is  certain  that  the  Marquis  of 
Montrose  and  Viscount  Dudhope  charged  and  routed  Monk,  who  returned 
from  Stirling  to  Dalkeith,  where  he  stiU  is  curing  his  wounds.  Eighty- 
three  wounded  officers  are  in  Heriot's  Hospital.  Montrose  lost  his  left 
thumb.  The  Earls  of  Atholl  and  Kinnoul  fell  on  a  reinforcement  that 
was  marching  from  St  Johnstons  to  assist  Monk,  killed  five  hundred, 
and  dispersed  the  rest.  At  the  same  tinie  Middleton  routed  all  the 
English  forces  which  were  by  the  head  of  the  river  Spey,  and  killed 
and  took  three  troops  of  Lambert's  regiment  called  'the  Brazen  Wall.' 
The  fugitives  sheltered  themselves  under  Dnnnottar  Castle,  not  daring 
to  trust  to  the  foolish  fortifications  they  had  begun  about  Aberdeen. 


33°  COMMONWEALTH. 

ject  lie  had  begun.  He  profiered  terms  to  Monk,  who 
received  them  in  a  pacific  spirit.  There  was  a  break 
in  the  negotiations,  and  at  that  point  an  opportunity 
occurred  for  showing  that  the  insurrection  had  still 
life  in  it.  A  party  of  dragoons  was  quartered  in  the 
town  of  Dumbarton.  A  body  of  Highlanders  forded 
the  river  Leven  and  surprised  them,  so  that  they  fled 
to  the  castle,  leaving  their  horses  and  provisions  to  the 
assailants.  It  was  the  one  success  in  the  expedition, 
and  was  credited  with  the  effect  of  bringing  j\Ionk  to 
good  terms  :  "  The  conditions  were,  that  all  the  officers 
and  soldiers  should  be  secure  in  their  lives  and  for- 
tunes, and  should  have  passes  to  carry  them  to  their 
respective  homes,  they  behaving  themselves  peaceably 
in  their  journeys.  The  officers  were  allowed  their 
horses  and  arms,  and  to  wear  their  swords  always. 
The  soldiers  were  allowed  to  keep  their  horses,  but 
were  to  deliver  up  their  arms  and  to  receive  the  full 
value  for  the  same,  which  was  to  be  fixed  by  two  men 
chosen  by  my  lord  and  the  other  two  by  Mouk."^     A 

Middleton  is  going  south.  Men  see  he  is  in  earnest,  having  imprisoned 
Sir  George  Monro  for  raising  a  mutiny  and  drawing  his  sword  on  the 
Earl  of  Glencairn.  It  is  thought  he  will  have  above  sixteen  thousand 
horse  and  foot  at  a  general  rendezvous  between  St  Johnstons  and  Stirling 
the  10th  of  this  month,  besides  those  in  the  west  and  south  with  Ken- 
more  and  Sir  Arthur  Forbes.  There  is  not  an.  Englishman  between 
the  Forth  and  the  Tay  except  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  in  Burnt- 
island Castle,  who  dare  not  look  out.  All  this  news  comes  by  persons 
who  came  nine  days  ago  from  Burntisland.  The  Scots  make  inroads 
into  England  as  far  as  Newcastle,  and  receive  kind  entertainment  from 
the  country  people."  —  "Intelligence  from  various  Places,  copied  by 
John    Nicholas  ; "    Calendar,  Clarendon  Papers,  ii.  376. 

^  Military  Memoirs,  185.  The  authority  thus  cited  and  chiefly  relied 
on  for  the  facts  of  this  insurrection  is  '  Military  Memoirs  of  the 
great  Civil  War,  being  the  Military  Memoirs  of  John  Gwynne,  and  an 
Account  of  the  Earl  of  Glencairn's  Expedition,'  &c.,  4to,  1822.  Edited 
by  Sir  Walter  Scott. 


glencairn's  expedition,  1653-54.         331 

spirit  of  conciliation  is  conspicuously  visible  in  these 
terms.  Before  its  dispersal  the  disorderly  Highland 
camp  was  brightened  by  a  visit  from  a  hero  of  romance 
— Colonel  Vegan  he  is  called  by  the  historian  of  the 
expedition ;  but  he  is  better  known  to  the  world  as 
Captain  Wogan,  the  name  he  holds  in  Clarendon's 
History,  where  his  adventures  are  told.  He  took  a 
small  party  of  devoted  Eoyalists  who  marched  with 
him  through  England  and  Scotland  in  the  guise  of 
troopers  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  thus  reached  den- 
cairn's  camp  with  "near  a  hundred  gentlemen  well 
armed  and  mounted."  He  brought  with  him  a  wound 
caught  in  an  affair  "  with  a  troop  of  the  Brazen- Wall 
Regiment,  as  they  called  themselves;"  and  from  unskil- 
ful treatment,  as  it  was  said,  died  in  Glencairn's  camp.^ 
So  high  ran  hopes  and  expectations  about  Glencairn's 
expedition  that  Charles  professed  his  intention  to  join 
it.  He  seems  only  to  have  been  stopped  in  time,  when 
the  precise  and  unassuming  reports  from  Middleton 
were  received.  It  was  well  for  himself  that  he  remained 
in  safety  in  Paris,  since  the  result  of  all  rational  calcu- 
lation from  the  tenor  of  events  is,  that  he  would  have 
been  taken.  ^     There   is   another  feature  of  some  in- 

'  "  Middleton  made  a  short  harangue,  passionately  lamenting  Colonel 
Wogan,  whose  memory  all  men  here  reverence,  and  who  perished  either 
by  the  ignorance  or  villanj^  of  his  chirurgeun." — Calendar  of  Clarendon 
Papers,  ii.  371.  For  help  to  all  the  authorities  on  the  Wogan  affair,  see 
the  Boscobel  Tracts,  p.  42. 

'  Macray's  Calendar  of  the  Clarendon  State  Papers  (preserved  in  the 
Bodleian  Library),  Nos.  1468,  1480,  1713.  The  chief  of  Glengary 
writes  to  the  royal  exile  to  this  effect :  "  Although  on  Middleton's  arrival 
their  forces  were  not  so  strong  as  possibly  they  had  been  reported, 
yet  they  are  now  in  better  condition  ;  and  the  king's  presence,  which  is 
desired  by  most  of  his  faithful  subjects,  would  shortly  put  them  in  a 
condition  to  deal  equally  with  the  enemy,  while  without  it  they  will 
have  no  governing  of  themselves." — No.  1944.    He  wisely  remained  away. 


332  COMMONWEALTH. 

terest  in  this  affair.  The  Lord  Lorn,  the  son  of  the 
Marquess  of  Argyle,  professed  to  befriend  it.  We  find 
him  coming;  to  Glencairn  as  a  friend,  who  would  be 
an  ally  if  he  could  raise  his  father's  clan ;  and  he  was 
in  correspondence  with  the  exiled  Court  at  Paris, 
receiving  the  thanks  of  Charles  for  his  proffers.^ 

It  would  seem  that  the  boastful  hopes  of  the 
Royalists  were  so  far  echoed  in  the  apprehensions  of 
the  Government,  that  eighteen  thousand  men  were 
available  in  Scotland.  At  the  time  when  the  affair 
came  to  an  end  the  force  was  reduced  to  nine  thou- 
sand. Down  to  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury the  "  wild  Highlander  "  never  was  so  effectually 
bridled  as  during  the  remaining  years  of  the  Pro- 
tectorate. There  was  a  great  fortress  at  Inverness 
for  his  special  government.  But  we  shall  have  per- 
haps an  exaggerated  account  of  it,  if  we  take  the 
impression  of  a  trooper  in  the  Protectorate  army 
speaking  of  it  in  the  year  1658:  "North  and  by 
east,  near  the  forcible  stream  of  the  Ness,  stands  the 
fortress  or  pentagon,  drawn  out  by  regular  lines,  built 
all  with  stone,  and  girt  about  with  a  graff  that  com- 
modes it  with  a  convenient  harbour.  The  houses  in 
this  fair  fortress  are  built  very  Ioav,  but  uniform,  and 
the  streets  broad  and  spacious,  with  avenues  at  inter- 
but  he  wrote  a  letter  destined  for  the  Moderator  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, if  such  a  person  could  he  found,  desiring  him  to  send  "  such  able, 
faithful,  and  discreet  ministers  into  the  army  as  may  draw  down  God's 
blessing  upon  them"  (No.  1709). 

'  Macray's  Calendar  of  the  Clarendon  State  Papers,  Nos.  1480,  1747. 
"  Lord  Lorn,  in  a  letter  to  the  lieutenant-general  about  six  weeks  since, 
expressed  abundance  of  zeal  to  the  king's  service.  He  has  a  consider- 
able force  with  him,  and  therefore  it  will  be  no  policy  alisolutely  to  re- 
fuse him  ;  if  there  be  just  ground  to  fear  him,  the  only  way  will  be  to 
labour  to  get  him  into  their  power." — No.  1944. 


CONCLUSION    OF    THE    PROTECTORATE,  1658-60.      333 

vals  for  drilling  of  foot  and  drawing  up  horse.  I  must 
confess  such  and  so  many  are  the  advantages  and 
conveniences  that  belong  to  this  citadel  it  would  be 
thought  fabulous  if  but  to  enumerate  them  ;  for  that 
end  I  refer  myself  to  those  who  have  inspected  her 
magazines,  providoes,  harbours,  vaults,  graffs,  bridges, 
sally-ports,  cellars,  bastions,  horn-works,  redoubts, 
counterscarps,  &c."  ^  There  was  a  responding  fort  at 
the  upper  end  of  Loch  Ness,  and — most  astounding 
phenomenon  of  all  to  the  natives — communication  was 
opened  between  them  by  a  ship  of  Avar  cruising  on  the 
loch.  The  same  writer  describes,  with  much  flowery 
eloquence,  its  removal  overland  from  the  Moray 
Firth  by  "a  regiment — or  it  may  be  two — at  that 
time  quartered  near  Inverness,  who  by  artifice  had 
fastened  thick  cables  to  her  forecastle,  and  then  they 
got  levers  and  rollers  of  timber,  which  they  spread  at 
a  distance  one  before  another."  - 

Neither  the  united  Parliament  nor  the  new  Church 
polity  had  a  practical  growth  carrying  any  touches  of 
its  spirit  into  the  institutions  of  later  times  ;  and, 
unlike  the  political  project,  the  ecclesiastical  was  ac- 
companied by  no  secondary  influence  of  a  beneficent 
kind,  such  as  the  opening  of  trade  between  the  tAvo 
countries,  to  commend  it  to  the  sympathies  of  an 
ase  in  which  it  would  otherwise  be  forgotten. 

Cromwell's  immediate  and  temporary  influence,  both 
on  Church  and  State  in  Scotland,  had  in  it  much  of 
that  character  which  he  claimed  for  his  position.  The 
country  was  in  a  state  of  riot — a  constable  was  wanted 
to  put  it  in  order  and  keep  it  so,  and  he  accepted 
of  the  post.     But  the  constable  is  at  all  times  more 

1  Frank's  Northern  Memoirs,  202.  "  Ibid,,  199. 


334  COMMONWEALTH. 

tolerated  than  liked.  To  those  even  whom  he  pro- 
tects he  is  the  emblem  of  forced  obedience  ;  and  when 
they  see  him  on  his  stiff  walk,  with  his  suspicious  eye 
and  his  baton  of  control,  they  sigh  for  the  good  old 
days  when  courtesy  and  deference  preserved  order  in 
the  village,  and  the  squire  was  respected  for  his  an- 
cient pedigree  and  his  personal  amiability.  Then 
when  the  Protectorate  passed  to  Oliver's  son,  it  was 
no  longer  the  necessary  constable,  but  a  question  of 
change  of  dynasty. 

The  loyalty  that  only  muttered  under  the  stern  rule 
that  was  over  now  spoke  fairly  out.  It  was  in  Novem- 
ber 16.59  that  Monk  began  his  renowned  march  to 
London.  For  all  the  famed  inscrutability  of  his  char- 
acter, the  Scots  evidently  knew  the  errand  on  which 
he  had  gone.  There  was  so  good  an  understanding 
between  them  that  he  could  withdraw  the  army  from 
their  neighbourhood.  He  called  together  an  assembly 
of  representative  men  from  the  counties,  who  so  far 
promoted  his  undertaking,  whatever  it  might  be,  that 
they  aided  him  with  a  considerable  sum  of  money, 
which  might  either  be  called  an  anticipation  of  the 
taxes  to  come,  or  an  advance  on  their  security.  At 
their  meeting,  whatever  was  spoken  beyond  compli- 
ments and  expressions  of  good-fellowship,  referred 
to  the  support  of  the  Parliamentary  authority  in  each 
country.  The  general  knew  the  opinion  of  the  men  he 
was  dealing  with ;  he  accepted  of  co-operation  and 
aid  from  them  ;  he  was  able  to  do  what  they  desired, 
and  the  bargain  was  as  complete  as  a  bargain  without 
words  can  be.  Had  Monk  done  otherwise  than  as 
he  did,  he  would  certainly  have  incurred  a  charge  of 
dissimulation  or  apostasy. 


CHAPTER    LXXVI. 

Social  progress  from  t\}Z  Reformation  to 
i\}t  Restoration. 


LITERATURE  DECAY     OF     LATIN      LITERATURE  —  PASSES     FROM 

A     LIVING     TO     A     DEAD     LANGUAGE  —  RISE     OF     VERNACULAR 

LITERATURE POETRY HUME  —  DRUMMOND  —  SIR     ROBERT 

AYTOUN — BALLAD     LITERATURE — SONGS NATIONAL    MUSIC 

SCIENCE NAPIER    OF    MERCHISTON — GREGORY — ART JAMESON 

THE      PAINTER FATE     OF     ECCLESIASTICAL     ARCHITECTURE 

BARONIAL    AND    STREET   ARCHITECTURE PROGRESS    OF    WEALTH 

CONDITION    OF   THE    TOWNS NOTICES    OF  SCOTLAND    BY   VISI- 
TORS  THE    MORALITY    OF    THE    PEOPLE THE     SUPERSTITIONS 

AS    THE    DARK    SIDE    OF    THE    SOCIAL    SYSTEM MALIGNANT    IN- 
FLUENCE OF  BELIEF   IN  WITCHCRAFT DIABOLICAL   POSSESSIONS. 

Having  reached  a  period  of  calm,  with  the  conscious- 
ness that  fresh  troubles  will  speedily  demand  exclusive 
attention,  the  opportunity  is  suitable  for  a  retrospect 
on  the  social  conditions  and  fluctuations  attending  a 
hundred  years  of  the  country's  history.^ 

^  It  is  sometimes  said  that  the  liistory  of  a  country  is  imperfectly 
written  if  it  do  not  in  the  narrative  reveal  the  social  condition  of  the 
people  hrought  forward  to  act  upon  its  stage.  This  may  he  so,  but  most 
ordinary  narrators  are  apt  to  feel  that  there  are  characteristics  of  a 
people  too  placid  and  leisurely  in  their  growth  to  he  easily  put  into  com- 
panionship with  others  born  of  violence,  fanaticism,  or  craft.  At  all 
events,  if  there  are  morsels  which  the  skill  of  an  author  is  insufficient  to 
weave  into  his  narrative,  the  best  he  can  do  is  to  stop  at  a  halting-place 
and  pick  them  up. 


336      SOCIAL    PROGRESS    SINCE    THE    REFORMATION. 

The  great  impulse  to  literature  and  learning  accom- 
panying the  Reformation  had  not  yet  expired,  though 
in  the  stormy  atmosphere  it  had  lived  in  for  fiftj^ 
years  it  was  evidently  dwindling  towards  extinction. 
Yet  even  among  the  men  foremost  in  its  acrid  discus- 
sions were  many  Avho  had  a  name  far  beyond  their 
own  country  in  the  theological  or  polemical  literature 
of  the  day,  and  who  published  the  results  of  their 
labours  abroad  in  the  language  which  still  made  the 
learned  of  all  Europe  kin  to  each  other.  Among  these 
were  David  Calderwood  the  historian,  John  Brown, 
commonly  known  as  "  Brown  of  Wamphray,"  Samuel 
Itutherford,  David  Dickson,  and  Piobert  Baillie,  with 
whom  we  have  had  many  opportunities  of  commun- 
ing.^    The  cousin  to  whom  he  wrote  the  letter  cited 

1  It  is  pleasant  to  find  Baillie,  in  the  hours  of  his  darkest  depression 
from  the  fate  of  his  lieloved  Church,  finding  relief  in  the  republic  of 
foreign  letters.  To  Middelburg  he  writes,  desiring  his  cousin  Spang,  a 
minister  there,  to  send  him  some  morsels  of  periodical  literature  written 
in  French,  but  published  in  Holland,  where  it  evaded  the  censorship. 
And  then :  "  I  pray  you,  in  your  first  to  Voetius,  remember  my  hearty 
service  to  him  for  his  kind  and  prolix  answer  to  my  letter.  Try  if  he 
has  any  return  either  from  Buxtorf  or  Golius  about  my  motion  to  them  : 
we  all  long  for  a  new  enlarged  edition  of  the  Bibliothek,  and  a  third 
volume  of  his  Theses.  I  am  informed  that  there  is  no  man  fitter  to  draw 
a  philosophic  cursus  than  his  own  son  ;  will  j-ou  try  if  he  can  be  per- 
suaded to  it  ?  Wlio  now  is  in  by  for  any  service  ?  What  is  Heidanua  for 
a  man  ?  What  has  come  of  Morns  and  Blondell  ?  Is  there  no  man  who 
after  Spanheim  does  mind  the  controversy  with  Amiraud  ?  As  long 
since  I  desired  you  to  gather  the  adversarie  pieces  of  Voetius  and  Mare- 
sins,  and  send  them  to  us — do  it  yet.  AVhat  is  my  good  friend  Apol- 
lonius  doing  ?  Is  there  no  more  of  Bochartus'  or  Henricus'  Philippus 
come  out  1  That  the  more  willingly  you  may  give  me  an  account  of  all 
this,  behold  I  am  at  the  labour  to  let  you  know  how  all  our  affairs  stand 
here. 

"  To  myself  the  Lord  is  still  very  good,  continuing  my  health,  wealth, 
credit,  welfare  of  all  my  six  children,  assistance  in  every  part  of  my  calling ; 
blessed  be  His  name." — Letters,  &c.,  iii.  31L  But  it  was  not  well  with 
his  Zion.     After  having  beheld  triumph  after  triumph  until  lie  grew  be- 


LITERATURE,    1560-1660.  337 

below — William  Spang — provided  the  sympathisers 
in  the  Netherlands  with  a  history  of  the  recent  trans- 
actions in  Scotland,  conveyed  to  them  in  the  language 
of  all  scholars.^ 

Among  other  Presbyterian  divines  whose  writings 
are  limited  to  their  own  vernacular  were  men  with 
eminent  intellectual  qualities ;  such  was  the  great 
John  Welch  who  married  Knox's  daughter.  Though 
he  wrote  in  his  own  language,  he  threw  himself  into 
the  midst  of  the  fundamental  contests  between  the 
old  Church  and  the  new;  and  he  must  have  been  an 
accomplished  linguist,  since  he  ministered  for  some 
time  as  a  Huguenot  pastor  in  France.  There  were 
John  Weems  of  Lathoker,  Rol)ert  Bruce,  James 
Durham,  James  Guthrie,  the  hero  and  martyr  of  the 
Remonstrants,  and  George  Gillespie,  the  "  hammer 
of  the   Malignants."  ^      There  was  eminent  over  all 

wildered  with  success,  all  was  now  subdued  to  the  iron  rule  of  the  Com- 
monwealth. In  viewing  the  public  side  of  such  a  man  in  his  brawling 
assemblies  and  perilous  politics,  and  turning  to  his  studies  and  his 
domestic  peace,  we  see  how  well  a  mind  stored  with  intellectual  wealth 
is  endowed  with  resources  against  the  calamities  of  the  times.  His 
correspondents,  though  their  works  now  rest  very  peacefully  on  the 
book-shelves,  were  noted  divines  in  their  day — chiefly  in  the  sources  of 
study  supplied  from  Oriental  literature. 

1  '  Rerum  Nuper  in  Regno  Scotise  Gestaruni  Historia,  &c.,  per  Irinsemn 
PhUalethen  Eleutherium,'  Dantzic,  1641.  This  is  apt  to  be  confounded 
with  a  little  book  called  '  Motuum  Britannicorum  verax  Cushi  ex  ipsis 
Joabi  et  oculati  testis  prototypis  totus  translatus.'  I  have  not  been  able 
to  discover  the  origin  of  this  book.  It  is  clear,  from  the  abundance  of  its 
local  information,  that  the  .Joab  and  eyewitness  by  whom  either  it  was 
written  or  its  chief  materials  supplied,  were  in  Scotland. 

^  Of  Gillespie  Wodrow  says  :  "  He  was  one  of  the  great  men  that 
had  a  chief  hand  in  penning  our  most  excellent  Confession  of  Faith  and 
Catechisms.  He  was  a  most  grave  and  bold  man,  and  had  a  most  wonder- 
ful gift  given  him  for  disputing  and  arguing."  The  end  of  a  dispute 
held  by  him  with  some  of  the  promoters  of  the  Engagement  was  that 
"  Glencairn  said,  '  There  is  no  standing  before  this  great  and  mighty 

VOL.   VIL  Y 


338      SOCIAL    PROGRESS    SINCE    THE    REFORMATION. 

Alexander  Henderson,  selected  for  the  distinction  of 
debating  the  great  question  of  the  day  with  the 
king. 

These  men  all  belonged  to  a  religious  community 
frequently  oscillating  between  triumph  and  defeat — 
a  community  of  many  transitions  and  interminable 
contests.  Among  reliofious  bodies  of  so  restless  a 
temperament  the  trumpet  is  frequently  and  loudly 
blown,  and  men  are  famous  who  but  for  adventitious 
conditions  would  have  been  obscure.  But  whether  it 
were  from  the  fruitful  impulse  of  this  restlessness  or 
not,  it  is  certain  tliat  soon  after  the  Reformation,  and 
down  to  the  Restoration,  there  was  a  marked  access 
of  intellect  and  zealous  scholarship  among  the  Pres- 
byterian clergy  of  Scotland ;  and  the  feature  seems 
the  more  worthy  of  note,  that  in  the  after -ages, 
whether  in  depression  or  in  triumph,  the  same  Church 
became  intellectually  barren. 

The  Episcopal  Church  was  not  without  its  literary 
ornaments.  Among  these  Ave  may  count  Archbishop 
Spottiswood,  and,  more  eminent  as  scholars,  the  two 
Bishops  of  Aberdeen,  Patrick  and  John  Forbes.  There 
was  Leighton,  destined  for  a  high  place  in  religious 
literature,  and  Alexander  Ross,  a  man  of  various 
accomplishments  and  powers  somewhat  eccentrically 
employed. 

The  foreign  intellectual  market  continued  to  be 
abundantly  supplied  from  Scotland.^  The  Latin  lan- 
guage, as  a  vehicle  of  literature  and  teaching,  lingered 

man.'  He  was  called  Malleus  Malignantium ;  and  Mr  Baillie,  writing 
to  6ome  in  this  Church  against  Mr  George  Gillespie,  said, '  He  was  truly 
an  ornament  to  our  Church  and  nation.' " — Aiialecta,  iii.  111. 

'  For  notices  of  the  learned  Scots  who  became  distinguished  on  the 
Continent  the  author  refers  to  his  '  Scot  Abroad,'  \o\.  ii. 


LITERATURE,    1560-1660.  339 

longer  in  Scotland  than  in  England,  for  various  obvi- 
ous reasons.  Until  the  Scot  ambitious  of  an  audience 
could  address  his  neighbours  of  England  as  well  as  his 
own  countrymen,  he  spoke  in  these  to  a  narrow  audi- 
ence. With  Latin  he  had  the  educated  men  of  all  the 
world  to  speak  to.  The  use  of  the  language  had 
become  so  much  a  nature,  that  one  sometimes  finds  a 
Scots  scholar,  when  laboriously  endeavouring  to  ex- 
press his  meaning  in  not  too  provincial  vernacular, 
relieving  himself  by  relapsing  into  the  familiar  Latin. 
But  as  the  use  of  the  vernacular  increased,  the 
Latin  degenerated  by  a  process  of  stiffening.  As  it 
dropped  out  of  living  use  by  the  great  community 
of  scholars,  it  came  at  last  to  be  the  dead  language 
it  is  now  called,  and  had  to  be  artificially  acquired. 
In  the  days  of  Buchanan  it  had  been  purified  from 
the  various  barbaric  forms  into  which  it  had  been 
twisted  by  the  scholastic  divines,  the  lawyers,  and  the 
chroniclers,  in  whose  hands  it  took  generally  a  shape 
warped  by  the  peculiarities  of  their  several  native 
languages.  In  the  days  of  Buchanan  it  was  both  pure 
and  free,  and  open,  as  any  man's  native  tongue  is,  to 
the  bold  handling  of  a  genius  such  as  his.  He  was  no 
more  under  the  dominion  of  the  rules  of  prosody,  and 
no  more  excluded  from  the  use  of  neologies  legiti- 
mately born  of  the  genius  of  the  language,  than  Ovid 
and  Catullus  were.  But  the  later  men  who  aspired 
to  Latin  versifying  came  gradually  under  the  re- 
straints in  full  force  in  later  times,  and  their  verses 
mio-ht  be  accurate  and  canonical,  but  were  not  poetry. 
In  the  collection  of  elegant  extracts  already  mentioned 
as  containing  the  effusions  of  Andrew  Melville  and 
his  comrades — '  The  Delicise  Poetarum  Scotorum ' — 


340      SOCIAL   PROGRESS    SINCE    THE    REFORMATION. 

we  can  estimate  at  a  glance  tlie  contribution  rendered 
by  (Scotland  to  tliis  kind  of  literature.  It  may  be 
counted  an  open  question,  whether  Arthur  Johnston 
shall  be  held  to  rise  above  the  prosodical  manufacture 
into  the  region  of  the  poet.  The  direct  comparison 
with  Buchanan  demanded  in  his  translation  of  the 
Psalms  did  much  to  prejudice  his  claim.  Still  there 
are  some  touches  of  sweetness  and  beauty,  in  his  less 
ambitious  efforts  especially,  M^here,  like  Ausonius,  he 
touches  on  incidents  and  scenes  of  local  interest,  — 
as  where  he  commemorates  the  tragedy  of  the  burn- 
ing of  Frendraught,  perpetrated  near  the  door  of  his 
own  paternal  home,  or  muses  on  the  coincidence  that 
that  home  is  touched  by  the  shadow  of  the  neighbour- 
ing hill  of  Benochie  when  the  midsummer  sun  is 
setting  behind  it. 

With  examples  of  the  vernacular  prose  literature  of 
Scotland,  from  Knox's  time  downwards,  the  reader  of 
these  pages  may  perhaps  have  found  himself  rather 
too  abundantly  supplied. 

The  Scottish  poets  of  the  early  half  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  were  not  many.  Chief  among  them 
were  Drummond  of  Hawthornden,  Sir  William  Alex- 
ander, Sir  Ptobert  Aytoun,  and  Alexander  Hume.  A 
community  so  small  and  obscure  did  not  subject  itself 
to  the  rules  of  art  coming  in  force  in  England  for  the 
discipline  of  its  larger  literary  republic.  The  few 
Scottish  poems  of  the  day  have  thence  a  spirit  of  not 
unpleasant  freedom,  which  has  recommended  them  to 
the  anarchical  taste  of  the  present  generation.^     But 

'  Alexander  Hume's  poem  of  the  "  Day  Estival,"  existing  in  obscurity, 
as  excluded  from  legitimate  poetry  by  the  canons  of  each  succeeding 
dynasty,  has  found  itself  in  harmony  with  the  poetical  spirit  of  the  pre- 


POETRY,    1560-1660.  341 

although  the  versification  is  free  of  many  contem- 
porary trammels  of  art,  and  is  often  devoted  to  the 
description  of  natural  objects,  yet  there  is  a  certain 

sent  generation — so  far,  indeed,  that  a  close  parallel  has  been  found  be- 
tween him  and  a  great  poet  of  the  nineteenth  century  in  their  style  of 
imagery.  It  is  the  description,  physical  and  social,  of  the  land,  blessed 
by  a  hot  summer  day,  following  the  course  of  daylight  from  sunrise  to 
sunset.     The  morning  and  the  poem  open  together  : — 

"0  perfect  light,  whilk  shed  away 
The  darkness  from  the  light, 
And  left  ane  ruler  o'er  the  day, 
Ane  other  o'er  the  night ; 

Thy  glory,  when  the  day  forth  flies, 

Mair  vively  does  appear. 
Nor  at  mid-day  unto  our  eyes 

The  shining  sun  is  clear. 

The  shadow  of  the  earth  anon 

Removes  and  drawes  by. 
Syne  in  the  east,  when  it  is  gone, 

Appears  a  clearer  sky." 

Tlie  birds  are  the  earliest  to  feel  the  reviving  influence,  and  when  the 
darkness  is  utterly  dispersed  by  tlie  sun,  they  and  other  elements  of  life 
are  in  full  career  : — 

"For  joy  the  birds,  with  bolden  throats. 
Against  his  visage  sheen, 
Takes  up  their  kindly  music  notes 
In  woods  and  gardens  gi'een. 

Up  braids  the  careful  husbandman 

His  cows  and  vines  to  see, 
And  every  timeous  artisan 

In  booth  works  busily. 

The  pastor  quits  the  slothful  sleep. 

And  passes  forth  with  speed 
His  little  cameo-nosfed  sheep 

And  routing  kie  to  feed." 

Moving  on  towards  the  mid-day  heat  we  have  this  sultry  sketch  : — 

'^The  time  so  tranquil  is  and  still, 
That  nowhere  shall  ye  find 
Save  on  ane  high  and  barren  hill 
The  air  of  peeping  wind. 

All  trees  and  simples,  great  and  small, 

That  balmy  leaf  do  beai', 
Nor  they  were  painted  on  a  wall 
No  more  they  move  or  stir. 


34-       SOCIAL    PROGRESS    SINCE    THE    REFORMATION. 

pedantry  or  conventionalism  in  the  selection  of  these 
objects.  The  poet  does  not  go  forth  dreaming  on 
what  is  around  him,  and  telling  his  dream.  He  must 
select  and  group  his  matter  after  such  rules  as  have 
prescribed  the  foreground,  middle,  and  distance  of  a 
legitimate  picture,  or  the  unities  in  a  drama.     It  will 


Calm  is  the  deep  and  purpiire  sefi. 

Yea,  smoother  tlian  the  saud. 
The  wells  that  weltering  wont  to  be 

Are  stable  like  the  land. 

Sa  silent  is  the  cecile  air, 

That  every  cry  and  call, 
The  hills  and  dales  and  forests  fair 

Again  repeats  them  all. 

The  rivers  fresh  and  caller  streams 

O'er  rocks  can  softly  rin; 
The  water  clear  like  crystal  seems. 

And  makes  a  pleasant  din." 

There  are  many  other  types  of  man  and  natnre  endming  the  burning  heat, 
and  then  the  day  draws  to  a  close  :— 

"The  gloaming  comes,  the  day  is  spent, 
The  sun  goes  out  of  sight, 
And  painted  is  the  Occident 
With  pnrpour  sanguine  bright. 

The  scarlet  nor  the  golden  thread. 

Who  would  their  beauty  try, 
Are  nothing  like  the  colour  red. 

And  beauty  of  the  sky. 

Our  west  horizon  circular, 

Era'  time  the  sun  be  set, 
Is  all  with  rubies,  as  it  were. 

Or  roses  red  o'erset. 

What  pleasure  were  to  walk  and  see, 

Endlong  a  river  clear. 
The  perfect  form  of  every  tree 

Within  the  deep  appear !  " 

Hume  died  minister  of  a  country  parish  early  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. The  original  edition  of  his  '  Hymns  and  Sacred  Songs,  wherein 
the  right  use  of  Poesy  may  be  espied,'  is  very  rare.  It  was  reprinted  by 
the  Bannatyne  Club,  and  the  "  Day  Estival"  has  been  reprinted  more  than 
once.  It  is  in  the  third  volume  of  Sibbald's  '  Chronicle  of  Scottish 
Poetry,'  and  in  the  '  Scottish  Descriptive  Poems,'  edited  by  Leyden. 


POETRY,    1560-1660.  343 

perhaps  make  this  characteristic  more  distinct  to  say, 
that  when  we  accompany  a  Scottish  poet  of  the  day, 
who  in  natural  and  easy  versification  is  describing 
natural  objects  with  much  truth  and  vivacity,  yet  we 
do  not  feel  that  we  are  in  Scotland  along  with  him. 
This  will  show  itself  in  the  portions  from  Hume's  poem 
given  in  the  preceding  note,  and  one  may  read  the 
whole  without  finding  anything  in  the  descriptions  to 
mark  the  author  as  a  Scotsman.  In  fact  his  sum- 
mer day  belongs  to  climes  nearer  the  sun ;  and  only 
to  some  memorable  day  of  exceeding  heat,  scarcely 
occurring  once  every  year,  would  it  be  applicable  in 
Scotland. 

It  is  in  harmony  with  this,  that  there  is  nothing 
made  in  these  old  poems  of  the  wealth  of  varied  na- 
tional scenery,  which  has  in  late  years  given  inspiration 
to  English  as  well  as  Scottish  bards.  It  is  not  only 
that  negatively  is  this  theme  of  poetry  passed  by,  but 
that  in  one  instance  there  exists  what  may  be  termed 
a  positive  protest  against  it  as  unworthy  of  poetic 
treatment.  It  is  the  one  instance  where  the  poetry  of 
the  period  deals  with  scenes  frequented  now  by  annual 
thousands  of  pilgrims  in  search  of  the  picturesque,  and 
in  that  one  instance  the  scenery  is  treated  with  deri- 
sion. A  certain  freebooter  named  Diincan  MacGregor 
had  long  been  a  dreaded  scourge  in  the  straths  leading 
towards  the  central  highlands  of  Perthshire  and  Angus. 
He  was  at  last  trapped  and  brought  to  the  stronghold 
of  the  head  of  the  Breadalbane  Campbells,  where  the 
bard  divines  his  contemplations  as  he  is  awaiting  the 
final  rope.  He  is  ruminating  on  the  old  scenes  dear 
to  his  heart — the  fair  straths  and  fruitful  carses  where 
his  presence  was  murder  and  ruin — the  savage  recesses 


344      SOCIAL    PROGRESS    SINCE    THE    REFORMATION. 

of  the  rock  where  he  hid  his  plunder  and  found  shelter 
for  himself.  The  point  of  humour  in  the  effort  is,  that 
on  scenes  abhorred  by  poetry  and  civilisation  the 
rufSan  becomes  tenderly  pensive.  It  is  as  if,  when  a 
modern  housebreaker  has  come  to  grief,  his  rumina- 
tions should  recall  the  shops  and  warehouses  where  he 
has  done  his  most  distinguished  feats  as  a  cracksman, 
and  should  pass  from  these  to  the  horriljle  dens  in  the 
polluted  regions  of  the  great  cities  where  he  and  his 
like  seek  safety,  —  the  whole  being  rendered  in  the 
manner  of  Gray's  ode  on  a  distant  view  of  Eton,  or 
Wordsworth's  reminiscences  at  the  fountain  where  his 
heart  was  "idly  stirred"  by  "the  self-same  sounds" 
that  he  had  heard,  not  alone,  in  days  long  past.-^ 

^  "  Farewell,  Breadalbane,  and  Loch  Tay  so  sheen. 

Farewell,  Glenorchy,  and  Glenlyon  baith  ; 

My  death  to  yon  will  be  but  little  skaitli. 
Farewell,  Glenalmond — garden  of  pleasance, 

For  many  a  flower  have  I  frae  you  tane. 
Farewell,  Strathbran,  and  have  remembrance 

That  thou  wilt  never  mair  see  Duncan  again. 
Atholl,  Strathtay,  of  my  death  be  fain  ; 

For  ofttimes  I  took  your  readiest  gear, 

Therefore  for  me  see  ye  greet  not  one  tear. 
Farewell,  Stratliern,  most  comely  for  to  knaw, 

Plenished  with  pleasant  policies  perclair  ; 
Of  tower  and  town,  standing  fair  in  raw, 

I  rugged  thy  ribs,  while  oft  I  gart  them  roar. 

Gar  thy  wives,  yif  thou  wilt  do  no  more, 
Sing  my  dirirje  after  usum  saricm, 
For  ofttimes  I  garred  them  alarum. 
Farewell,  Monteith,  where  oft  I  did  repair. 

And  came  unsought,  ay,  as  does  the  snaw. 
To  part  frae  thee  my  heart  is  wonder  sair. 

Sometime  of  me  I  gart  you  stand  great  awe  ; 

But  fortune  now  has  lent  me  sic  ane  blaw. 
That  tbey  whilk  dread  me  as  the  death  beforn. 
Will  mock  me  now  with  heathen  shame  and  scorn." 

Farther  up  in  the  fastnes.ses  of  the  mountains  his  regretful  memories 
are  of  another  kind  : — 

"  Now  farewell,  Rannoch,  with  thy  loch  and  isle  ; 
To  me  thou  wast  richt  trest  both  even  and  morn. 


POETRY,    1560-1660.  345 

The  abode  of  Drummond,  perched  on  its  rock  of 
Hawthornden,  looked  down  on  scenes  renowned  for 
their  beauty ;  yet  one  will  wander  until  he  is  tired 
through  the  sonnets,  madrigals,  and  epigrams  to 
which  his  muse  was  chiefly  dedicated,  without  find- 
ing any  allusion  to  the  glories  spread  around  him 
by  nature. 

The  poets  of  this  period  were  almost  as  negligent 
of  the  heroic  annals  of  their  country  as  of  its  natural 
beauties.  Classical  models,  ideas,  and  names  had 
gained  the  supremacy,  and  were  to  hold  a  long  reign. 
The  morsels  of  poetic  or  imaginative  literature  that 
did  most  to  offer  a  mirror  of  the  country  and  the 
period  were  those  given  to  moralising.  The  vices 
that  deo-rade  and  the  virtues  that  adorn  are  the  ob- 
jects  of  prolific  literary  painting,  and  they  could  not 
be  personified  without  some  touches  of  actual  human 
life.  How  to  adorn  the  life  allotted  to  us,  however 
humble,  with  the  mellow  beauties  of  a  contented 
spirit,  is  the  general  tenor  of  this  kind  of  literature ; 
and  from  Seneca  downwards  it  seems  to  have  been  a 
favourite  theme  with  ambitious  and  self-seeking  men. 
Like  these.  Sir  William  Alexander,  Earl  of  Stirling, 
the  Secretary  of  State  and  the  projector  of  the  colony 
of  Nova  Scotia,  was  successful  in  painting  the  happi- 
ness of  a  lot  he  never  knew.     He  speaks  in  dramatic 

Thou  wast  the  place  that  would  me  iiocht  beguile 
When  I  have  been  oft  at  the  king's  horn." 

— Duncan  Laideus  aliai  Makgregouris  Testament;  Black  Book  of  Tay- 
mouth,  149.  The  author  is  not  kno\vn,  but  he  must  have  been  a  cul- 
tivated man.  Laideus  is  Latinised  from  Laudasach,  Duncan's  hiding 
retreat,  or  some  other  place  associated  with  his  name.  For  a  further 
account  of  the  hero  and  the  poem  see  Innes's  Sketches  of  Early  Scotch 
History,  355. 


346      SOCIAL    PROGRESS    SINCE    THE    REFORMATION. 

pieces  ;  but  these  apparently  were  not  constructed 
for  the  stage,  but  written  to  bring  out  the  moralities 
in  the  utterance  of  the  several  parts  :  and  there  is 
a  dignity  and  sweetness  in  the  appreciation  and  de- 
scription of  the  homely  virtues  of  common  life  as 
they  are  thus  celebrated.'- 

There  is  generally,  among  a  people  with  a  nation- 
ality and  a  history  of  their  own,  a  literature  more 
significant  in  its  social  relations  than  the  literature  of 
the  library.  This,  inspired  by  scholarship,  may  be 
drawn  from  foreign  lands  and  distant  times ;  but 
the  songs  and  ballads  preserved  in  the  traditions  of 

'  The  quartets  following  are  a  pleasant  gloss  on  the  Horatian  text  of 
the  "  Desiderantem  quod  satis  est,"  &c.  : — 

"  0  happy  he,  who,  far  from  fame,  at  home 
Securely  sitting  by  a  quiet  fire, 
Tliough  having  little,  doth  not  more  desire  ; 
But  first  himself,  then  all  things  doth  o'ercome. 

His  purchase  weighed,  or  what  his  parents  left, 

He  squares  his  charges  to  his  store, 

And  takes  not  what  he  must  restore. 
Nor  eats  the  spoils  that  from  the  poor  were  reft. 

Not  proud  nor  base,  he  scorning  creeping  art  ; 

From  jealous  thoughts  and  en\'y  free. 

No  poison  fears  ia  cups  of  tree, 
No  treason  harbours  in  so  poor  a  part. 

No  heavy  dream  doth  vex  him  when  he  sleeps ; 
A  guiltless  mind  the  guardless  cottage  keeps." 

The  following  is  in  the  spirit  of  the  "  Ne  sit  Ancillse,"  with  an  inversion 
of  the  sexes  :  — 

"  0  happy  woman  !  of  true  pleasure  sure, 

who  in  the  country  lead'st  a  guiltless  life. 

From  fortune's  reach  retired,  obscure,  secure, 

Though  not  a  queen,  yet  a  contented  wife. 

Thy  mate,  more  dear  to  thee  than  is  the  light. 
Though  low  in  state,  loves  in  a  high  degree. 

And,  with  his  presence  still  to  bless  thy  sight, 

Doth  scorn  great  courts  while  he  lives  courting  thee. 


BALLADS    AND    SONGS,    1560-1660.  347 

the  people  are  their  own  beloved.  It  was  an  eminent 
and  popular  Scotsman  who  first  uttered  the  judgment, 
so  often  repeated,  "  If  a  man  were  permitted  to  make 
all  the  ballads,  he  need  not  care  who  should  make  the 
laws  of  a  nation."  In  literature  of  this  kind  Scotland 
is  peculiarly  affluent.  The  ballad-poetry  of  Scotland 
may  now  be  counted  a  full  hundred  years  old  in 
printed  literature.  Allan  Eamsay  collected  a  few  of 
its  floating  fragments  ;  but  it  is  in  Percy's  '  Reliques,' 
published  in  1766,  and  more  amply  in  David  Herd's 
contemporary  collection  of  'Ancient  and  Modern 
Scottish  Songs,  Heroic  Ballads,  &c.,'  that  the  min- 
strelsy of  Scottish  ballad  -  poetry  took  a  place  in 
British  literature.  The  later  collections,  including 
Scott's  '  Border  Minstrelsy,'  and  ending  with  Aytoun's 
two  volumes,  are  too  numerous  to  be  conveniently 
individualised. 

From  the  structure  of  the  versification  and  languaoje 
we  may  carry  the  bulk  of  these  popular  poems  at  least 
as  far  back  as  the  seventeenth  century.  It  was  then, 
at  least,  that  they  appear  to  have  been  completed,  or 
brought  to  the  condition  in  which  they  stand  in  the 
versions  held  in  highest  esteem  by  those  who  have 
collected  and  published  them.  At  this  stage  of 
their  existence  we  may  say  of  them  that  they  were  a 
literature  adopted  by  popular  acclamation.  No  one 
was  known  as  the  author  of  any  one  of  them.  They 
grew  and  fell  into  shape  as  they  passed  from  gener- 
ation to  generation  by  tradition.  One  minstrel  or 
reciter  had  to  fill  up,  in  his  own  way,  what  he  had 
forgotten ;  another  gave  a  touch  of  improvement,  or 
what  he  deemed  so,  to  the  work  as  he  got  it.  If  there 
were  originally  verses  of  execrable  doggerel  in  the 


348       SOCIAL    PROGRESS    SINCE    THE    REFORMATION. 

ballads  that  have  come  down  to  us  in  all  their  quaint 
sweetness,  then  the  public  taste  must  have  chosen  the 
fair  and  dropped  the  foul.  A  literary  structure  of 
this  kind  should  be  a  valuable  study  to  those  scholars 
who  attribute  a  similar  method  of  growth  to  "the  Hom- 
eric epics."'-  The  collector  for  publication  was  not  pre- 
cluded from  Avhat,  in  artist  phrase,  is  called  "touching 
up  "  his  prizes.  Of  several  versions  he  had  perhaps 
not  simply  to  select  the  best,  but  he  had  to  adorn  it 
with  stray  beauties  found  among  the  others.  This 
rendered  manipulation  necessary ;  and  the  judicious 
alteration  of  a  word  here  and  there,  to  make  better 
harmony  of  the  whole,  was  within  the  licence  of  his 
craft.  ^     There  is  no  doubt  that  in  editing;  the  '  Min- 


^  "  The  peculiar  character  and  tone  of  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey,  apart 
from  the  question  of  structure  and  organism,  is  specifically  the  tone 
and  character  which  belongs  to  minstrel  poetry,  as  distinguished  from 
the  productions  of  poetic  art  in  an  age  of  literary  culture.  The  differ- 
ence between  minstrel  poetry  and  the  poetry  of  literary  art  is  given 
necessarily  with  the  character  of  the  age  to  which  it  belongs.  The  min- 
strel sings  or  recites  for  the  entertainment  of  a  race  of  simple  but  stout 
and  healthy-minded  men  who  know  nothing  of  books  ;  the  literary  pioet 
writes  and  publishes  for  a  generation  of  nice  readers,  subtle  thinkers, 
and  fastidious  critics — a  people  who  can  do  nothing  without  printed 
paper,  and  for  whose  souls  books  have  become  almost  as  essential  as 
bread  is  to  their  bodies.  The  conditions  of  growth  being  so  totally 
diverse,  it  cannot  be  that  the  flower  and  the  fruit  brought  to  maturity 
vmder  such  different  influences  should  not  present  a  corresponding 
diversity." — Blackie's  Homer  and  the  Iliad,  i.  139. 

^  For  instance,  in  the  exquisitely  mournful  "Walj',  Waly," — 

"Now  Arthur  Seat  shall  lie  my  bed, 

The  sheets  shall  ne'er  be  pressed  by  me  ; 
Saint  Anton's  well  sliall  be  my  drink, 
Since  my  true  love's  forsaken  me. 

0  winter  winds,  when  will  ye  blaw, 
And  shake  the  dead  leaf  aff  the  tree  ? 

0  gentle  death,  wlien  wilt  thou  come. 
And  tak  a  life  that  wearies  me  ? " 


BALLADS    AND    SONGS,    1560-1660.  349 

strelsy  of  the  Scottish  Border,'  Scott  did  much  for 
purification  and  a  little  in  the  shape  of  decoration;  and 
his  was  the  master's  hand  that  could  not  fail  in  giving 
the  true  and  perfect  touch.  A  critic  of  the  day 
whose  first  sight  of  Scottish  ballad-lore  was  in  these 
attractive  volumes  prophetically  announced  that  they 
contained  "  the  elements  of  a  hundred  historical  ro- 
mances." 

The  Scottish  ballad-minstrelsy,  indeed,  ranges  over 

— it  is  said  tliat  Allan  Ramsay  tampered  with  the  last  line,  wliicli  in  an 
older  version  is,  "  For  of  my  life  I  am  weary."  But  we  may  thank 
"  honest  Allan  "  for  the  improvement  ;  and  we  are  indebted  to  Scott  for 
a  slight  but  effective  touch,  removing  an  imperfection  in  the  older  read- 
ings. No  one,  however,  wiU  feel  any  debt  of  gratitude  to  tlie  pedant 
who  seems  to  have  brolien  iu  on  the  simple  description  of  the  beautiful 
boy  Gil  Morice  witli  "  Minerva's  loom"  and  other  polishings  : — 

"  Gil  Morice  sat  in  good  greenwood, 
He  whistled  and  lie  sang  : 
'  0  wliat  means  a'  the  folk  coming  ? 
My  mother  tarries  lang  ! ' 

His  hair  was  like  the  threeds  of  gold 

Drawn  from  Minerva's  loom  ; 
His  lips  like  roses  drajiping  dew, 

His  breath  was  a'  perfume. 

His  brow  was  like  the  raoimtain  sna,w 

Gilt  by  the  morning  beam  ; 
His  cheeks  like  living  roses  glow  ; 

His  eyes  like  azure  stream. 

The  boy  was  clad  in  robes  0'  green. 

Sweet  as  the  infant  spring  ; 
And  like  the  mavis  on  the  bush 

He  gart  the  valleys  ring. 

The  baron  came  to  the  greenwood 

Wi'  muckle  dule  and  care  ; 
And  there  he  first  spied  Gil  Morice 

Kaiming  his  yellow  hair. 

That  sweetly  waved  around  his  face — 

That  face  beyond  compare. 
He  sang  sae  sweet  it  might  dispel 

A'  rage  but  fell  despair. " 


350      SOCIAL    PROGRESS    SINCE    THE    REFORMATION. 

and  engrosses  every  element  of  poetry  except  tlie  reli- 
gious or  devout.  That  had  its  own  minstrels)^  in  the 
vocal  psalmody  of  public  worship.  The  great  cause 
of  the  Covenant  had  many  heroic  acts,  but  few  min- 
strels. The  only  tolerable  ballads  belonging  to  it  are 
"Loudon  Hill,"  celebrating  the  battle  of  Drumclog, 
and  "  Bothwell  Brig,"  a  ballad  of  lamentation.  Of  the 
songs  attached  to  popular  tunes  the  cause  has  but  one, 
and  it  is  not  entirely  of  a  reverend  character — it  is 
"  Blue  Bonnets  over  the  Border,"  intended  as  a  song 
of  triumph  on  Leslie's  march  to  Newcastle.  Otherwise 
the  minstrelsy  is  rich  in  all  that  picturesquely  associ- 
ates itself  with  the  shades  as  well  as  the  lights  of  the 
national  life.  We  have  the  great  crimes,  with  their 
harvest  of  remorse  and  retribution.  War  is  there, 
with  its  patriotic  devotion,  its  heroism,  and  triumphs 
on  the  one  side ;  its  calamities  and  desolation  on  the 
other.  Love,  of  course,  with  all  its  romantic  vari- 
ations, is  abundant.  Superstition  enters  with  its 
horrors  ;  but  it  is  also  sometimes  borne  on  the  wings 

o 

of  an  exquisite  fancy,  yet  so  wild  and  wayward  that 
one  cannot  see  what  aesthetic  law  or  theory  can  jus- 
tify it,  and  yet  it  pleases.^ 

In  Scotland,  and  perhaps  it  is  the  same  all  over  the 

1  Take,  in  5'oung  Tamlane,  the  changeling  brought  up  in  fairy-land, 
who  has  found  an  earthly  lady-love,  and  plans,  with  her  aid,  an  escape 
from  the  enchanted  land  : — 

"  Gloomy,  gloomy  was  the  night, 
And  eerie  was  the  way, 
As  fair  Janet  in  her  green  mantle 
To  Miles  Cross  she  did  gae." 

And  that  fair  Janet  was  "  eerie,"  or  touched  with  nervous  apprehension, 
is  not  wonderful,  when  we  have  the  rehearsal  of  the  scene  in  which  she 
is  to  take  the  chief  active  part : — 


BALLADS   AND    SONGS,    1560-1660.  35 1 

world,  there  is  no  distinct  line  between  tlie  "  ballad," 
whicb  tells  a  story,  and  the  song,  which  expi'esses 
abstract  sentiment.  The  same  literary  history  is 
common  to  both.  The  song,  like  the  ballad,  was  in 
the  copyright  of  the  people,  who  altered  it  to  their 

"  '  The  morn  at  e'en  is  Hallowe'en ; 

Our  fairy  court  will  ride 
Througli  England  and  tlirougli  Scotland  baith, 

And  through  the  warld  sae  wide. 
And  if  that  ye  wad  borrow  nie. 

At  Miles  Cross  ye  maun  bide. 

And  ye  maxm  gang  to  the  Miles  Moss 

Bet"\veen  twelve  hours  and  one, 
Tak  haly  water  in  your  hand, 

And  cast  a  compass  roun'.' 

'  And  how  shall  I  hen  thee,  Tamlane  ? 

And  how  shall  I  thee  knaw, 
Amang  the  throng  0'  fairy  folk. 
The  like  I  never  saw  ?' 

'  The  first  court  that  comes  along, 

Ye'U  let  them  a'  pass  by  ; 
The  neist  court  that  comes  along, 
Salute  them  reverently. 

The  third  court  that  comes  along 

Is  clad  in  robes  0'  green. 
And  it's  the  head  court  0'  them  a', 

And  in  it  rides  the  queen. 

And  I  upon  a  milk-white  steed, 

Wi'  a  gold  star  in  my  cro'vsTi ; 
Because  I  am  a  christened  man 

Tliey  gave  me  that  renown. 

Ye'U  seize  upon  me  with  a  spring. 

And  to  the  ground  I'll  fa', 
And  then  ye'U  hear  an  eldrich  cry 

That  Tamlane  is  awa'. 

They'll  turn  me  in  your  arms,  Janet, 

An  adder  and  a  snake  ; 
But  hand  me  fast,  let  me  not  pass. 

Gin  ye  wad  be  my  maik. 

They'll  turn  me  in  your  arms,  Janet, 

An  adder  and  an  aske  ; 
They'll  turn  me  in  your  arms,  Janet, 

A  bale  that  burns  fast. 

They'll  shape  nie  in  your  arms,  Janet, 
A  dove,  but  and  a  swan  ; 


352       SOCIAL    PROGRESS    SINCE    THE    REFORMATION. 

mind  as  it  passed  on  from  generation  to  generation. 
Since  Allan  Ramsay  published  liis  '  Tea-Table  Mis- 
cellany '  these  songs  have  appeared  from  time  to  time 
with  many  variations.     It  happened  in  the  instance 

And  last  they'll  shape  me  in  your  anus 

A  mother-naked  man. 
Cast  your  green  mantle  over  me, 

And  sae  shall  I  be  wan.'  " 

— Aytoun's  Ballads,  i.  9, 

In  a  story  of  a  different  kind,  but  as  waywardly  fanciful,  the  beings 
of  the  aerial  world  express  themselves  on  the  crime  of  her  who  in  a  fit 
of  jealousy  murders  her  fair-haired  sister  by  drowning  her  in  the  mill- 
dam  of  Binnourie.     A  harper  finds  the  drowned  girl,  and — 

'^  He  has  ta'en  three  locks  o'  her  yellow  hair, 
Binnourie,  0  Binnourie  ! 
And  wi'  them  strung  his  harp  sae  rare. 
By  the  honnie  mill-dams  o'  Bimiourie. 

He  brought  the  harp  to  her  father's  hall, 

Binnourie,  0  Binnourie  ! 
And  there  was  the  court  assembled  all. 

By  the  bonnie  mill-dams  o'  Binnourie. 

He  set  the  harp  upon  a  stane, 

Binnourie,  0  Binnourie  ! 
And  it  began  to  play  alane. 

By  the  bonnie  mill-dams  o'  Binnourie." 

Tlie  lengthy  character  of  the  ballad-poetry  is  inimical  to  the  exempli- 
fication of  its  imaginative  character  in  extracts.  In  comparison  with 
the  epigrammatic  and  antithetic,  which  may  be  exhibited  like  .separate 
gems,  it  is,  like  natural  scenery,  only  to  be  enjoyed  in  its  full  expanse 
and  at  leisure.  Another,  however,  tempts  to  citation  by  its  brevity, 
and  the  touch  of  bitter  pathos  in  its  spirit.  It  is  called  "  The  Twa 
Corbies"  : — 

''  As  I  was  walkin'  all  alane, 
I  heard  twa  corbies  making  their  mane  ; 
The  tane  unto  the  other  did  say, 
'  Whare  shall  we  get  our  denner  this  day  ? ' 

'  Out  ower  aside  yon  auld  fail  dyke 
I  wote  there  lies  a  new-slain  knight ; 
And  naebody  kens  that  he  lies  there 
But  his  hawk,  his  hound,  and  his  lady  fair. 

His  hound  is  to  the  hunting  gane. 
His  hawk  to  bring  tlie  wildfowl  harae, 
His  lady  has  ta'en  another  mate, 
Sa  we  can  make  our  denner  sweet. 


BALLADS    AND    SONGS,    1560-1660.  353 

of  the  songs,  however,  that  the  genius  of  Burns  broke 
into  and  disturbed  this  easy  traditional  process.  He 
so  revolutionised  and  adorned  their  old  versions  that 
the  songs  became  his  own.  The  literature  of  some 
of  these  songs  was  so  stupid  or  offensive  that  it  might 
have  died  unregretted;  but  attached  to  the  coarse 
clay  was,  as  it  were,  a  soid  in  the  music  belonging  to 
it,  and  this  it  was  the  mission  of  Burns  to  ally  with 
fitting  poetry.  In  some  instances  the  song  in  its  old 
shape  might  have  its  merits ;  but  they  were  not  in 
harmony  with  the  habits  of  the  age,  and  made  an  un- 
suitable union.  Besides  what  the  taste  of  the  present 
day  wotdd  condemn  as  absolutely  coarse  and  inde- 
corous, there  were  characteristics  which  had  ceased  to 
be  genial  to  the  lyric  muse.  The  bacchanalian  song 
still  asserts  its  supremacy,  but  the  feats  it  records  are 
all  performed  by  the  male  sex.  In  the  Scotland  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  what  is  so  often  called  the  gentle, 
and  might  in  later  times  be  called  the  sober,  sex,  in- 
dulged to  some  considerable  extent  in  hard  drinking, 
and  its  feats  were  celebrated  in  genial  rhyme.^ 

0  ye'U  sit  on  liis  wliite  hause  bane, 
And  I'll  pike  out  his  bonny  blue  een  ; 
Wi'  ae  lock  0'  his  yellow  hair 
We'll  theek  our  nest  when  it  grows  bare. 

Mony  a  ane  for  him  niaks  mane, 
But  nane  shall  keu  whare  he  lies  slane. 
O'er  his  white  banes,  when  they  are  bare, 
The  wind  shall  blaw  for  ever  mair.'  " 

1  For  instance, take  the  song  called  "  Andrew  and  his  Cutty  Gun"  : — 

"  Blithe,  blithe,  blithe  was  she. 
Blithe  was  she  butt  and  ben  ; 
And  weel  she  lo'ed  a  Hawick  gill. 
And  leugh  to  see  a  tappit  hen." 

The  Hawick  gill  was  a  measure  of  liquor  peculiar  to  that  district. 
The  "tappit  hen"  was  a  measure  of  claret  certified  on  the  authority 
of  the  author  of  '  Waverley '  to  contain  "  at  least  three  English  quarts." 

VOL.  VII.  Z 


3S4      SOCIAL    PROGRESS    SINCE    THE    REFORMATION. 

Although,  among  recent  adapters  of  new  words  to 
the  old  tunes,  Burns  at  least  ever  improved  on  what 
he  found,  the  lyrical  poetrj  superseded  by  his  stronger 
muse  was  not  always  despicable.  Though  unequal  in 
the  original,  and  perhaps  injured  rather  than  improved 
by.  tradition,  yet  it  Avas  often  enlivened  with  genial 
touches  of  the  sentiment  more  vividly  and  artistically 
expressed  by  the  reconstructor ;  and  indeed  if  the 
populace  had  not  been  educated  to  the  general  tone 
and    sentiment   of    national    song,    they    would    not 

The  brief  air  devoted  to  this  Hithe  toperess  was  wanted  for  a  fairer 
spirit,  and  Burns  addressed  to  a  reigning  beauty  of  his  day  the  well- 
known — 

"  Blithe,  blithe,  and  merry  was  she. 
Blithe  "vvas  she  butt  and  ben  ; 
Blithe  by  the  banks  of  Earn, 
But  blither  in  Glenturrit  glen." 

The  spirit  of  feminine  joviality  comes  well  out  in  the  following :  it 
was  much  liked  by  the  late  Charles  Kirkpatrick  Sharpe,  who  printed 
some  copies  of  it  with  the  music  for  presentation  to  his  friends  : — 

"  There  were  four  diTinken  maidens 

Together  did  convene, 
From  twelve  o'clock  in  a  May  morning 

Till  ten  rang  out  at  e'en, 

Till  ten  rang  out  at  e'en, 

And  then  they  gied  it  ower. 
And  there's  four  drunken  maidens 

Doun  i'  the  Nether  Bow. 

When  in  came  Nelly  Paterson, 

With  her  fine  satin  go\\Ti  : 
'  Come,  sit  about,  ye  maidens. 

And  give  to  me  some  room. 

Before  that  we  gie't  ower. ' 
And  there's  four  drunken  maidens 

Doun  i'  the  Nether  Bow. 

Wlien  peacock  and  pigeon. 

And  hedgehog  and  bare. 
And  all  sorts  of  fine  venison, 

Was  well  made  ready  there. 
And  set  before  the  maidens 

Before  they  gied  it  ower. 
And  there's  four  drunken  maidens 

Doun  i'  the  Nether  Bow,"  &c. 


BALLADS   AND    SONGS,    1560-1660.  355 

have  heartily  appreciated  as  they  did  its  revival  in 
the  eighteenth  century.^ 

In  a  province  where  adepts  claim  supreme  rule  it 
would  be  presumption  in  any  onlooker  to  define  the 
place  occupied  by  the  song-music  of  Scotland,  or  even 
to  assert  that  it  has  a  place  at  all  in  music,  scienti- 
fically speaking.  It  is  among  human  anomalies  that 
the  divine  gift  sent  to  soothe  the  savage  breast  has 
created  the  fiercest  of  exterminating  wars  in  the  arena 
of  controversy,  and  those  claiming  absolute  supremacy 
in  the  art  have  been  denied  the  possession  of  music 
altogether  when  the  test  of  science  has  been  applied. 
But  we  may  at  least  say  that  the  Scottish  school  has 
done  the  duty  of  national  music  in  stirring  the  heart 
of  the  people,  and  bringing  a  soothing  and  elevating 

^  The  folloTving  stanzas,  first  printed  in  Watson's  Collection  in  1711, 
and  evidently  then  modernised,  will  have  a  familiar  tone  to  many  : — 

"  Should  old  acquaintance  be  forgot, 

And  never  thought  upon  ; 
The  flames  of  love  extinguished, 

And  freely  past  and  gone  ? 
Is  thy  kind  heart  now  grown  so  cold 

In  that  loving  breast  of  thine, 
That  thou  canst  never  once  reflect 

On  old  long  syne  ?  "  &c. 

Some  critics  have  the  audacity  to  hold  that  in  one  instance,  at  least — 
the  restoration  of  Sir  Robert  Aytonn's  "  Inconstancy  Reproved  " — Burns 
did  not  beautify  the  ideas  of  the  old  song.  The  first  stanza  of  this 
is  : — 

'^  I  do  confess  thou'rt  smooth  and  fair, 

And  I  might  have  gone  near  to  love  thee. 
Had  I  not  found  the  slightest  prayer 
That  lips  could  speak  had  power  to  move  thee ; 
But  I  can  let  thee  now  alone, 
As  worthy  to  be  loved  by  none." 

Burns,  varying  the  measure,  begins  ; — 

''  I  do  confess  thou  art  so  fair 

I  wad  been  o'er  the  lugs  In  love. 
Had  I  na  found  the  slightest  prayer 
Tliat  lips  could  speak  thy  heart  could  move." 


356      SOCIAL    PROGRESS    SINCE    THE    REFORMATION. 

element  into  a  national  character  apt  to  be  otherwise 
hard  and  rueaed.  The  strength  of  its  influence  has 
been  shown  among  the  many  wanderers  over  the 
world,  who  have  found  in  it  the  most  powerful  solace 
and  enjoyment  that  music  can  confer  in  the  associa- 
tion of  the  past  and  present,  and  the  recall  of  home 
memories.^ 

When  the  music  of  the  people  found  its  way  into 
higher  social  regions  at  home,  whence  it  spread 
abroad,  the  artists  of  the  legitimate  and  established 
schools  complained  bitterly  of  the  caprice  of  fashion 
which  doomed  them  to  make  something  endurable 
out  of  the  discordant  jargon  of  a  rude  peasantry. 
But  the  taste  has  held  its  own  for  now  nearly  a  hun- 
dred years,  and  is  old  enough  to  merge  from  a  fashion 
into  a  school.  Nor  was  it  utterly  destitute  of  older 
appreciation  in  high  places.  Dryden,  when  he  was 
dressing  up  Chaucer's  stories  in  presentable  modern 
costume,  says  that  although  the  voice  of  their  author 
is  not  deemed  harmonious  to  a  modern  audience, 
"  they  who  lived  with  him  and  some  time  after  him 
thought  it  musical ;  and  it  continues  so  even  in  our 

^  The  following  pleasant  little  story  occurs  in  that  old  collection  of 
qiiestionahle  archaeology,  Verstegan's  'Restitntion  of  decayed  Intelli- 
gence '  :  "So  fell  it  out  of  late  years  that  an  English  gentleman 
travelling  hi  Palestine,  not  far  from  Jerusalem,  as  lie  pursued  through 
a  country  town  he  heard  by  cliance  a  woman,  sitting  at  her  door 
dandling  her  child,  to  sing  '  Botliwell  Bank,  thou  bloomest  fayre.'  The 
gentleman  hereat  exceedingly  wondered,  and  forthwith  in  English 
saluted  the  woman,  who  joyfully  answered  him,  and  said  she  was  right 
glad  there  to  see  a  gentleman  of  our  isle,  and  told  him  that  she  was 
a  Scottish  woman,  and  came  first  from  Scotland  to  Venice,  and  from 
Venice  to  thither,  where  her  fortune  was  to  he  the  wife  of  an  officer 
under  the  Turk,  who  being  at  that  instant  absent  and  very  soon  to 
return,  entreated  the  gentleman  to  stay  there  until  his  return  ;  tlie  which 
he  did." 


MUSIC,   1560-1660.  357 

judgment,  if  compared  with  the  numbers  of  Lidgate 
and  Gower,  his  contemporaries.  There  is  the  rude 
sweetness  of  a  Scotch  tune  in  it,  which  is  natural 
and  pleasing  though  not  perfect."  ^ 

Much  conjectural  matter  has  been  written  about  the 
origin  of  Scottish  music,  discussing  among  others  the 
question  Avhether  it  was  the  creation  of  one  of  the 
artistic  favourites  of  James  III.,  or  was  brought 
over  and  naturalised  by  David  Rizzio.  That  much  of 
of  it  is  as  old,  at  least,  as  the  sixteenth  century,  was 
proved  by  a  manuscript  collection  of  the  tunes  them- 
selves in  a  handwriting  and  notation  which  brought 
them  back  close  to  that  period.  The  collection  had 
the  fortune  to  be  edited  by  a  man  of  scholarly  attain- 
ments, who  had  devoted  himself  to  musical  science. 
His  conclusion  on  their  value  as  preserving  the  music 
of  the  country  in  its  original  purity  is  :  "  The  favour- 
able contrast  which  many  of  the  Scottish  airs  therein 
contained  present  to  the  dull,  tiresome,  meretricious 
productions  which  from  time  to  time  have  been  palmed 
off  upon  the  public  under  that  name,  and  the  vitiated 
copies  of  the  same  tunes  which  have  been  handed 
down  by  tradition  alone,  are  among  the  most  gratify- 
ing results  of  its  discovery.  We  are  now  no  longer 
at  a  loss  for  a  standard  by  which  we  can  test  the 
genuineness  of  our  national  music,  distinguishing  the 
true  from  the  false,  and  separate  the  pure  ore  from  all 
admixture  of  baser  metal." ^ 

'  Works,  Wharton's  edition,  iii.  27. 

^  Ancient  Scottisli  Melodies,  from  a  Manuscript  of  the  Reign  of  King 
James  the  Sixth ;  mth  an  Introductory  Inquiry,  illustrative  of  the  His- 
tory of  the  Music  of  Scotland,  by  WiUiani  Dauney,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  Scot- 
land. ITie  original  book  is  called  '  The  Skene  Manuscript;'  and  on  the 
question  whether  it  was  a  favourite  possession  of  that  oracle  of  the  law 


358      SOCIAL    PROGRESS    SINCE    THE    REFORMATION. 

Before  the  period  now  readied  the  country  had 
made  some  worthy  contributions  to  the  graver  sciences. 
The  logarithmic  tables  of  John  Napier  of  Merchiston 
may  be  counted  the  grandest  discovery  in  the  united 
sciences  of  algebra  and  arithmetic  that  can  be  brought 
home  to  any  one  discoverer.  As  a  machine  for  over- 
coming the  difficulty  of  working  with  large  and  com- 
plicated numbers,  it  may  vie  with  the  invention  of 
what  we  call  the  Arabic  numeration,  because  we  do 
not  know  by  whom  it  was  invented,  or  where  or 
when,  but  have  reason  to  suppose  that  its  first  use 
was  in  Arabia.  Like  this  numeration,  so  familiar  to 
all  who  have  gone  through  the  first  steps  of  education, 
the  logarithm  is  in  its  elementary  principle  beauti- 
fully simple.  Take  a  series  of  numbers  increasing  by 
arithmetical  progression,  or  with  the  same  distance 
between  each,  as  1,  2,  3,  4,  &c.,  where  the  distance  is 
from  one  unit  to  another.  Connect  them  with  a  set 
of  numbers  marching  on  by  mathematical  progression 
or  multiplication.  To  multiply  one  of  these  by  the 
other,  perform  the  simple  task  of  adding  together  the 
number  attached  to  them  in  arithmetical  progression. 
Take  the  result  of  the  addition  to  its  place  in  the 
arithmetical  series — above  it  stands  the  product  of  the 

Sir  John  Skene,  the  editor  says  :  "  Altliough  music  was  an  accomplish- 
ment infinitely  more  yommon — among  gentlemen  at  least — than  at 
present,  there  is  no  information  on  record "  "  that  he  was  either  a 
proficient  in  or  a  patron  of  the  art  of  music"  (p.  12).  In  his  celebrated 
work  of  reference,  '  De  Verhorum  Signiticatione,'  Skene  has  "  Ifenetum, 
Leg.  Forest,  C.  2,  ane  stockhorn  ;''  "  cornare  menetum,  to  blaw  ane 
stockhorn,  whilk  commonly  is  made  of  timmer-wood  or  tree,  with  circles 
or  girds  of  the  same,  whilk  is  yet  used  in  the  Highlands  and  Isles  of  this 
realm  ;  where  I  have  seen  the  like  in  the  country  of  Helvetia,  in  the 
year  of  God  one  thousand  five  hundred  sixty- nucht,  among  the 
Switzers."  May  we  infer  that  the  man  who  jiut  matter  like  this  into 
a  law  dictionary  must  have  had  a  liking  for  music  ? 


SCIENCE,    1560-1660.  359 

multiplication  of  the  two  numbers  of  the  geometrical 
series.     Through  this  means,  instead  of  each  mathe- 
matician, astronomer,  or  other  adept  who  has  to  deal 
with  large  numbers,  having  to  make  his  own  calcula- 
tions, they  can  be  made  beforehand  by  persons  whose 
business  it  is  to  do  so,  and  can  be  stored  apart  for  use. 
The  union  of  simplicity  and  power  in  this  invention 
was    well    expressed  by  the  great  astronomer  Henry 
Briggs,    who   made  a   pilgrimage   to   the   inventor's 
tower  and  observatory  in  Edinburgh.      He  said  to 
Napier :    "  Sir,  I  have  undertaken  this  long  journey 
purposely  to  see  your  person,  and  to  know  by  what 
engine  of  wit  or  ingenuity  you  came  first  to  think  of 
this  most  excellent  help  unto  astronomy — viz.,    the 
logarithms ;    but,   sir,    being   by   you   found   out,    I 
wonder  why  nobody  else  found  it  out  before,  when, 
now  being  known,  it  appears  so  easy."^ 

The  trigonometrical  discoveries,  adapted  to  the  meas- 
uring of  great  distances,  and  especially  to  astronomy, 
had  gone  so  far  as  to  make  the  labour  of  calculation 
by  the  ordinary  methods  a  heavy  burthen  on  further 
discovery,  and  without  such  a  facility  it  became  clear 
that  the  progress  of  astronomical  discovery  was  so 
impeded  that  its  final  stoppage  might  be  anticipated. 
The  vast  saving  to  mental  labour  effected  by  this 
adjustment,  so  simple  in  its  principle,  may  be  esti- 
mated by  a  mere  glance  at  any  large  collection  of 
logarithmic  tables,  such  as  those  prepared  under  the 
auspices  of  the  first  Napoleon.^ 

1  Memoirs  of  Napier  of  Merchiston  by  Mark  Napier,  p.  409. 

^  The  system  was  announced  by  its  inventor  in  1614  under  the  title 
'  Mirifici  Logarithmorum  Canonis  Descriptio  ejusque  usus,  in  utraque 
Trigonometria  ;  ut  etiam  in  omni  Logistica  Mathematica  amplissinii, 
&c.,  explicatio.'  Printed  at  Edinburgh  by  Andrew  Hart.     The  ivory 


360      SOCIAL    PROGRESS    SINCE    THE    REFORMATION. 

A  rival  both  in  power  and  in  simplicity  to  Napier's 
invention  was  that  made  by  James  Gregory,  forty 
years  later,  in  mechanical  optics.  The  magnifying 
influence  of  a  convex  lens  must  have  its  equivalent 
on  a  concave  mirror.  Thus  the  difficulty  that  the 
enlargement  of  the  magnifier  tended  to  the  obscurity 
of  the  image  was  conc[uered.  The  discovery  was  not 
the  less  a  triumph  of  pure  science  that  there  was  no 
mechanic  of  the  day,  either  in  England  or  Scotland, 
who  had  skill  enough  to  give  effect  to  it.  The  philo- 
sopher, not  the  less  confident  in  his  knowledge,  left 
it  as  a  truth  in  natural  philosophy  not  to  be  doubted, 
and  afterwards  the  reflecting  telescope  of  the  astrono- 
mers proved  the  soundness  of  his  reliance.  James 
Gregory  never  used  or  saw  a  reflecting  telescope,  yet 
that  powerful  instrument  is  coupled  with  his  name  as 
its  inventor. 

Scotland  owned  in  the  seventeenth  century  another 
discoverer  still  less  fortunate — George  Dalgarno.  Of 
one  of  his  achievements  another  got  the  use  and  credit. 
A  second  died  along  with  the  memory  of  its  author. 
It  is  admitted  that  Bishop  Wilkins  derived  from  him 
the  leading  idea  of  his  elaborate  '  Essay  towards  a  Eeal 
Character  and  a  Philosophical  Language.'  ^  This 
belongs  to  the  speculative  sciences,  where  the  value  of 
discoveries  may  be  appreciated  by  fellow -students, 
but  cannot  be  weighed  before  the  world  as  realities. 

tablets  called  "  Napier's  bones,"  or  "  rods,"  do  not  contain  logarithmic 
tables,  but  adjustments  for  facilitating  multiplication  and  division. 

'  Wilkins  published  this  in  1668.  Among  the  scanty  notices  of  Dalgarno, 
it  is  known  that  Wilkins  was  acquainted  with  him.  Dalgarno's  book, 
jiublished  in  London  in  1661,  is  called  '  Ars  Signorum  vulgo  Character 
Universalis  et    Lingvia  Philosophioa.     Authore,  Geo.  Dalgarno.     Hoc 


SCIENCE,    1560-1660.  361 

But  Dalgarno's  other  discovery  —  the  method  of 
teaching  the  deaf  to  read  and  speak — was  eminently 
practical.^ 

It  was  not  until  the  project  had  been  rediscovered 
and  put  in  effective  practice  that  the  curious  iu  obscure 
philosophical  literature  found  the  buried  discovery  of 
Dalgarno.  Its  character  may  be  best  expressed  in  the 
words  of  Dugald  Stewart:  "After  having  thus  paid 
the  tribute  of  my  sincere  respect  to  the  enlightened 
and  benevolent  exertions  of  a  celebrated  foreigner 
[the  Abbe  Sicard],  I  feel  myself  called  on  to  lay  hold 
of  the  only  opportunity  that  may  occur  to  me  of 
rescuing  from  oblivion  the  name  of  a  Scottish  Avriter 
whose  merits  have  been  strangely  overlooked  both  by 
his  contemporaries  and  by  his  successors.  The  person 
I  allude  to  is  George  Dalgarno,  who  more  than  a 
hundred  years  ago  was  led  by  his  own  sagacity  to 
adopt,  a  priori,  the  same  general  conclusion  concern- 
ing the  education  of  the  dumb,  of  which  the  experi- 
mental discovery  and  the  happy  application  have  in 
our  days  reflected  such  merited  lustre  on  the  name  of 
Sicard.  "2 

1  '  Didascalocoplius  ;  or,  The  Deaf-and-Dvimb  Man's  Tutor  ;  to  which 
is  added  a  Discourse  of  the  Nature  and  Number  of  Double  Consonants 
— both  which  Tracts  being  the  first  (for  what  the  author  knows)  that 
have  been  published  upon  either  of  the  subjects.  Printed  at  the 
Theatre  in  Oxford  anno  Dom.  1680.'  Both  works  were  edited  by  the 
late  Lord  Dundrennan  for  the  Maitland  Club,  with  the  title,  '  The  Works 
of  George  Dalgarno  of  Aberdeen,  1834.' 

"  Philosophy,  cited  introduction  to  Dalgarno,  p.  vii. 

Dalgarno  adorns  his  ideas  with  some  touches  of  quaint  eloquence  : 
"  The  soul  can  exert  her  powers  by  the  ministry  of  any  of  the  senses- ; 
and  therefore  when  she  is  deprived  of  her  principal  secretaries,  the  eye 
and  the  ear,  then  she  must  be  contented  with  the  service  of  her  lackeys 
and  scullions  the  other  senses,  which  are  no  less  true  and  faithful  to  their 
mistress  than  the  eye  and  the  ear,  but  not  so  quick  for  despatch." 

"As  I  think  the  eye  to  be  as  docile  as  the  ear,  so  neither  see  I  any 


362      SOCIAL    PROGRESS    SINCE    THE    REFORMATION. 

There  was  too  much  strife  and  too  little  wealth  in 
the  Scotland  of  early  days  to  let  it  be  a  favourable 
field  for  art.  Yet  the  c[uict  for  some  years  following 
the  Union  produced  one  considerable  artist — George 
Jamesone.  He  was  born  in  Aberdeen,  and  there  he 
settled  as  a  portrait-painter  about  the  year  1620.  In 
later  days  the  artist  in  that  and  other  towns  of  Scot- 
land has  generally  gravitated  towards  Edinburgh;  but, 
as  we  have  seen,'_the  northern  town  was  of  old  a  sort  of 
metropolis  in  itself.  There  clustered  round  its  cathe- 
dral and  university  a  group  of  scholars,  and  there 
was  a  wealthy  territorial  aristocracy  around,  so  that  it 
was  perhaps  the  most  promising  spot  in  Scotland  for 
the  growth  of  an  artist.  It  is,  at  all  events,  fortunate 
that  in  the  quiet,  before  the  storm  of  civil  war  was  to 
burst,  there  was  one  able  to  commemorate  the  features 
of  so  many  of  those  who  were  to  be  actors  on  the 
scene. 

It  has  been  said  and  often  repeated  that  Jamesone 
studied  along  with  Vandyke  under  Eubens.  But  no 
authority  can  be  found  for  this ;  and  if  he  had  such 
opportunities,  he  brought  little  with  him  either  from 
his  master  or  his  fellow-pupil.  His  pictures  are  quiet, 
with  nothing  of  the  stirring  life  that  filled  the  canvas 
under  the  powerful  brush  of  Rubens.       Nor  has  he 

reason  but  the  hand  might  be  made  as  tractable  an  organ  as  the  tongue  ; 
and  as  soon  brought  to  form,  if  not  fair,  at  least  legible  characters,  as 
the  tongue  to  imitate  and  echo  back  articulate  sounds." 

"  The  hand  is-^at  least  is  capable  of  being  made — a  more  serviceable 
organ  of  interpretation  to  the  soul  than  the  tongue ;  for  it  has  access  to 
its  mistress's  soul  by  the  door  of  three  senses, — 1st,  of  hearing  by  aulo- 
logy ;  2d,  of  seeing  by  both  species  of  schematology- — to  wit,  Typology  and 
Dactylology  ;  3d,  of  feeling  by  Haptology, — whereas  the  tongue  can  only 
enter  by  the  door  of  one  sense,  and  do  its  message  only  by  one  kind  of 
interpretation.  Glossology." — Works,  131. 


ART,    1560-1660.  363 

that  wonderful  gradation  of  light  and  shade,  of  aerial 
perspective,  which  makes  the  human  figure  stand  forth 
so  clear  from  all  the  rest  in  Vandyke's  portraits. 
Jamesone  gives  his  heads  light  upon  a  very  dark 
ground ;  but  the  painting  is  thin,  with  few  gradations 
of  shade,  and  there  is  little  of  the  artist  anywhere 
save  in  the  head  itself.  His  principal  patron  was  the 
chief  of  the  house  of  Breadalbane,  and  hence  many 
specimens  of  his  work  are  to  be  found  at  Taymouth. 
There  are  several  in  the  two  colleges  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Aberdeen.  Perhaps  the  best  known,  because 
most  readily  seen  of  his  works,  is  the  portrait  of  Sir 
Thomas  Hope  in  the  Advocates'  Library.^  One  of 
the  pleasantest  of  all  his  achievements  was  engraved 
by  his  grandson  Alexander,  and  re-engraved  for  Dal- 
laway's  edition  of  AValpole's  '  Anecdotes  of  Painters.' 
It  is  a  family  group — the  artist  himself  with  his  pallet 
and  brushes,  his  comely  wife  with  the  tartan  snood  of 
the  day,  and  their  chubby  child.  We  know  that 
Jamesone  worked  in  a  pavilion  or  pleasure-house  within 
a  garden,  after  the  Dutch  and  Flemish  fashion,  save 
that  it  stood  on  the  brink  of  a  brawling  brook  instead 
of  a  ditch.  When  we  have  the  portraits,  the  muni- 
ficent patrons,  the  artist  himself  at  work  in  his  studio 
decorated  by  his  own  brush,  we  have  something  like 
a  chapter  out  of  the  social  history  of  the  Netherlands. 
The  final  touch  is  given  to  the  little  episode  of  prem- 

1  There  are  two  entries  in  the  great  lawyer's  diary:  "20  Julii  1638, 

Fryday. This  day  William  Jamesoun,  painter  (at  the  ernest  desire  of 

ray  son  Alexander),  was  suflferit  to  draw  my  pictur.  27  Julii  1638. — Item, 
a  second  draiight  by  William  Jamesom."  Hope  was  extremely  miniite, 
as  some  instances  have  shown  us,  in  his  entries  in  his  diary,  but  he  does 
not  seem  to  have  acquired  accuracy  about  such  a  trifle  as  an  artist's 
name. 


364      SOCIAL    PROGRESS    SINCE    THE    REFORMATION. 

ature  civilisation,  when  we  find  the  poet  Arthur  John- 
ston describing  the  whole  within  the  terse  limits  of  a 
Latin  epigram.  On  the  whole,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  the  claims  to  immortality  of  this  one  Scottish 
painter  are  founded  somewhat  on  the  poverty  of  neigh- 
bours, and  that  he  would  not  have  been  so  widely 
celebrated  had  it  not  been  that  England  had  no  artist 
so  good  until,  a  little  later,  Dobson  came  forth. 

The  doctrines  of  the  Covenanting  party  were  inim- 
ical to  the  plastic  arts,  from  the  belief  that  they  had 
been  subservient  to  the  breach  of  the  second  com- 
mandment, and  if  encouraged  might  again  be  so.  In 
England,  even  in  the  small  parochial  churches,  we  can 
trace  with  nicety  the  changing  types  of  ecclesiastical 
architecture,  from  the  debasement,  as  it  has  been  called, 
of  the  classical  into  the  Norman,  on  through  the  various 
stages,  until,  by  what  is  called  another  debasement, 
the  perpendicular  is  mixed  with  classical  restorations 
in  the  seventeenth  century.  But  the  progress  of 
ecclesiastical  architecture  in  Scotland  stopped  in  the 
year  1560.  From  that  year,  in  the  building  of 
churches,  not  only  all  decoration  ceased,  but  along 
with  it  all  beauty  and  symmetry  departed,  leaving,  in 
the  places  of  Christian  worship,  objects  as  displeasing 
to  the  eye  as  buildings  could  be  made.  One  exception 
to  this  generality  is  in  itself  significant.  We  have 
met  with  the  name  of  Archbishop  Spottiswood  as  a 
friend  of  the  innovations  of  King  James  in  the  direc- 
tion of  Episcopacy.  He  had  it  in  purpose,  as  his 
biographer  says,  "  the  restoring  the  ancient  discipline, 
and  bringing  that  Church  to  some  degree  of  uniformity 
with  her  sister  Church  of  England,  which,  had  we  on 
both  sides  been  worthy  of,  might  have  proved  a  wall 


ART,    1 560-1660.  365 

of  brass  to  botli  nations."  Besides  his  more  con- 
spicuous work  as  an  ecclesiastical  politician,  lie  left  a 
local  relic  of  his  zeal  in  a  parish  church  in  Fifeshire, 
built,  as  he  thought,  after  the  Gothic  models.  In  the 
words  of  the  same  author,  "  he  publicly,  upon  his  own 
charges,  built  and  adorned  the  church  of  Dairsie  after 
the  decent  English  form,  which  if  the  boisterous  hand 
of  a  mad  Reformation  had  not  disordered,  is  at  this 
time  one  of  the  beautifulest  little  pieces  of  church- 
work  that  is  left  in  that  unhappy  country."  ^  But 
what  is  left  of  Dairsie  church  only  shows  that  the  hand 
of  the  builder  had  lost  its  cunning,  and  that  neither 
the  prelate  nor  his  biographer  had  an  eye  for  medi- 
eval art.  It  is  a  piece  of  cold  mimicry,  like  the 
work  of  the  cabinetmaker  rather  than  of  the  architect. 
The  tracery  of  the  windows,  for  instance,  instead  of 
being  the  utmost  degree  of  united  beauty  and  strength 
to  be  obtained  by  laying  one  stone  on  another,  seems 
like  openings  stamped  into  a  Hat  slab  of  stone.  In 
this  it  has  too  much  in  common  with  some  of  the 
efforts  towards  Gothic  at  the  present  day.  It  is  a 
mistake  to  suppose  that  the  art  created  by  centuries  of 
study  and  labour  can  be  mimicked  offhand.  But  it 
is  of  far  more  importance  that  these  efforts,  such  as 
they  are,  have  been  made  by  the  representatives  in  the 
present  day  of  those  religious  communities  which 
from  the  Reformation  to  the  existing  generation  held 
in  detestation  all  sesthetic  effort  in  the  building  of 
places  of  worship. 

In  baronial  architecture  and  dwelling-houses  there 
was  a  great  advance  between  the    Reformation   and 

1  The  author's  Life,  prefixed  to  '  History  of  the  Church  and  State  of 
Scotland.' 


366      SOCIAL    PROGRESS    SINCE    THE    REFORMATION. 

the  Restoration.  The  French  style  of  tall  round 
towers  or  turrets  with  conical  tops  prevailed.  In 
some  instances  the  old  square  tower  was  surmounted 
with  turrets  and  other  decorations,  and  many  dwel- 
lings were  wholly  built  in  the  style  of  Chantilly  and 
other  great  French  chateaus.  Of  these  there  are 
fine  specimens  in  Winton,  Pinkie,  Glammis,  Fyvie, 
Castle  Fraser,  Craigievar,  and  Crathes.  Heriot's 
Hospital  is  a  curious  modification  of  'this  style.  It 
was  designed  by  Sir  Robert  Aytoun  the  poet,  who 
evidently  appears  to  have  sought  to  bring  the 
rambling  picturesque  character  of  the  French  style 
into  a  rigid  symmetry,  like  that  which  prevails  in  the 
classical  styles.  It  may  be  noted  that  the  little  corner 
turrets  did  not  belong  to  his  original  plan.  In  this 
the  towers  were  to  be  carried  up  into  high,  abruptly- 
shapen  pavilion  roofs,  after  the  French  fashion,  as 
exemplified  in  the  Tuileries.  These  petty  turrets 
depart  essentially  from  the  rule  that  some  useful  end 
should  be  the  object  of  all  building — they  are  too 
small  to  serve  as  flanking  works,  or  to  be  in  any  way 
of  service  to  the  main  building.-^ 

Some  of  these  turreted  mansions  are  decorated  with 
sculpture,  chiefly  in  pargeted  ceilings.  But  there  is 
nothing  national  in  these  works.  The  medallioned 
heads  represent,  not  the  worthies  of  Scotland,  but  King 


'  To  Sir  Robert  Aytoun,  who  was  thus  an  artist  as  well  as  a  poet, 
there  is  a  monument  in  Westminster  ALbey.  It  is  rich  in  decoration, 
and  yet  in  simplicity  and  beauty  it  stands  in  favourable  contrast  to 
many  of  its  neighliours.  It  is  engraved  in  Smith's  '  Oeconographia  Scotica.' 
We  have  a  little  morsel  of  incidental  evidence  that  his  opinions  were 
not  inherited  by  his  descendant  the  author  of  the  '  Lays  of  the  Cavaliers.' 
He  was  master  of  an  art  in  high  esteem  in  its  day — that  of  caligraphy, 
or  decorated  penmanship  ;  and  he  exercised  this  art  in  writing  out  il- 
luminated copies  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  some  of  which  still  exist. 


THE    TOWNS,    I  5 60- 1 660.  367 

David,  Hector  of  Troy,  Alexander  the  Great,  and 
other  persons  eminent  in  Scripture  or  classical  litera- 
ture. They  were  probably  the  work  of  Italian  and 
Netherland  artists,  made  for  the  general  market  of  the 
world. 

It  is  evident  that  the  citizen  middle  class  in  the 
towns  rapidly  advanced  in  wealth  and  comfort  after 
the  union  of  the  crowns.  Like  the  country  mansions, 
the  streets  and  houses  followed  Continental  examples 
rather  than  English,  in  the  piling  of  house  above  house. 
There  was  an  obvious  reason  for  this.  England  was, 
during  the  dynasty  of  the  Tudors,  almost  the  only  part 
of  Europe  where  towns  did  not  require  to  be  walled.  In 
Scotland  they  were  liable  to  attack  from  the  English 
on'  the  one  side  and  from  the  Highlanders  on  the 
other.  But  any  one  alike  familiar  with  the  Scots 
borough  town  and  the  municipalities  of  France,  Ger- 
many, and  the  Low  Countries,  sees  that  Scotland  was 
some  two  hundred  years  later  in  the  progress  of  the 
more  material  part  of  culture.  The  town  -  houses 
earlier  than  the  seventeenth  century  are  in  Scotland 
extremely  rare,  perhaps  even  in  Edinburgh  they  do 
not  amount  to  half-a-dozen.  Thus,  although  there,  and 
in  Glasgow,  Dundee,  Aberdeen,  and  the  small  towns  of 
Fifeshire,  the  old  houses  are  many,  their  age  as  a  rule 
does  not  go  back  behind  the  union  of  the  crowns. 

The  old  Scots  town  was  not  so  unpleasant  a  place  of 
residence,  nor  so  hostile  to  the  laws  of  health,  as  it 
became  when  modern  buildings  enlarged  its  area.  The 
old  idea  was  to  run  up  one  long  street  on  a  ridge  of 
hill  if  such  ground  were  available.  The  street  itself 
was  close  and  dirty,  but  each  house  had  its  garden 
sloping  clown  towards  the  open  country. 


368       SOCIAL    PROGRESS    SINCE    THE    REFORMATION. 

The  following  sketch  of  Aberdeen  by  a  Cavalier 
country  gentlemen  gives  an  impression  not  unpleas- 
ing :  "It  is  easy  to  conjecture  that  the  closes,  lanes, 
and  streets  have  not  been  at  the  first  building  chalked 
out  or  designed  by  any  geometrical  rule.  The  build- 
ings of  the  town  are  of  stone  and  lime,  rigged  above, 
covered  with  slates,  mostly  of  three  or  four  storeys 
height,  some  of  them  higher.  The  streets  are  all 
neatly  paved  with  flint-stone,  or  a  grey  kind  of  hard 
stone  not  unlike  to  flint.  The  dwelling-houses  are 
cleanly  and  beautiful  and  neat  both  within  and  with- 
out, and  the  side  that  looks  to  the  street  mostly 
adorned  with  galleries  of  timber,  which  they  call  fore- 
stairs.  Many  houses  have  their  gardens  and  orchards 
adjoining.  Every  garden  has  its  postern,  and  these 
are  planted  with  all  sorts  of  trees  which  the  climate 
will  sufl'er  to  grow  ;  so  that  the  whole  town,  to  such  as 
draw  near  it  upon  some  sides  of  it,  looks  as  if  it  stood 
in  a  garden  or  little  wood."  ^ 

Sir  William  Brereton,  a  gentleman  of  Cheshire,  might 
claim  the  merit  of  being  the  earliest  of  a  prolific  race 
— the  tourists  in  Scotland.  He  was  among  the  first 
to  leave  memorials  of  what  he  saw  there.  He  visited 
Edinburgh,  and  then  rambled  westward,  in  the  year 
1634.  Perhaps  his  experience  of  the  Scottish  capital 
may  be  read  with  some  interest : — 

"  This  Saturday,  after  dinner,  I  took  a  view  of  the 
castle  here,  which  is  seated  very  high  and  sufiiciently 
commanding,  and  being  able  to  batter  the  town.  This 
is  also  seated  upon  the  top  of  a  most  hard  rock,  and 
the  passage  whereunto  was  (as  they  there  report)  made 
through  that  hard  and  impregnable  rock,  which  cannot 

'  (jordon  of  Rothiemay's  description  of  Aberdeen,  9. 


THE    TOWNS,    1 560-1660.  369 

be  touched  or  hewed  ;  and  it  is  indeed  a  stately  pas- 
sage, wherein  was  used  more  industry,  pains,  art,  and 
endeavour,  than  in  any  place  I  have  found  amongst 
the  Scotts.  It  is  but  a  very  little  castle,  of  no  great 
receipt,  but  mighty  strength  ;  it  is  called  Castrum 
Puellarum,  because  the  kings  of  the  Picts  kept  their 
virgins  therein.  Upon  the  wall  of  the  castle,  towards 
the  top,  is  this  insculpsion,  part  thereof  gilt, — a  crown 
and  sceptre,  and  dagger  placed  under  it  crosswise, 
with  this  superscription  :  '  Nobis  hsec  invicta  miserunt 
106  Proavi.'  The  same  arms  and  inscription  is  placed 
upon  the  front  of  the  abbey,  which  is  the  king's  house. 
Out  of  the  court  of  this  high-seated  castle,  there  Avas 
one  that  watched  (a  soldier  in  his  turn)  in  a  little 
wooden  house  or  cabin,  which  by  a  whirlwind  was 
taken  and  thrown  down  both  together  over  the  castle- 
wall  and  to  the  bottom  of  this  high  and  steep  rock, 
and  the  man  not  hurt  or  bruised,  save  only  his 
finger  put  out  of  joint.  Hence  you  may  take  a  full 
view  of  the  situation  of  the  whole  city,  which  is  built 
upon  a  hill  nothing  oversteep,  but  sufficiently  sloping 
and  ascending  to  give  a  graceful  ascent  to  the  great 
street,  which  I  do  take  to  be  an  English  mile  long, 
and  is  the  best  paved  street  with  bowther  -  stones 
(which  are  very  great  ones)  that  I  have  seen.  The 
channels  are  very  conveniently  contrived  on  both 
sides  the  streets,  so  as  there  is  none  in  the  middle  ; 
but  it  is  the  broadest,  largest,  and  fairest  pavement, 
and  that  entire,  to  go,  ride,  or  draw  upon. 

"  Here  they  usually  walk  in  the  middle  of  the  street, 
which  is  a  fair,  spacious,  and  capacious  walk.  This 
street  is  the  glory  and  beauty  of  this  city  :  it  is  the 
broadest  street  (except  in  the  Low  Countries,  where 

VOL.  VII.  '2  A 


370      SOCIAL   PROGRESS    SINCE    THE    REFORMATION. 

there  is  a  navio-able  channel  in  middle  of  the  street) 
and  the  longest  street  I  have  seen,  which  begins  at 
the  palace,  the  gate  whereof  enters  straight  into  the 
suburbs,  and  is  placed  at  the  lower  end  of  the  same. 
The  suburbs  make  an  handsome  street ;  and  indeed 
the  street,  if  the  houses,  which  are  very  high,  and 
substantially  built  of  stone  (some  five,  some  six  stories 
high),  were  not  lined  to  the  outside  and  faced  with 
boards,  it  were  the  most  stately  and  graceful  street 
that  ever  I  saw  in  my  life  ;  but  this  face  of  boards, 
which  is  towards  the  street,  doth  much  blemish  it, 
and  derogate  from  glory  and  beauty ;  as  also  the  want 
of  fair  glass  windows,  whereof  few  or  none  are  to 
be  discerned  towards  the  street,  which  is  the  more 
complete,  because  it  is  as  straight  as  may  be.  This 
lining  with  boards  (wherein  arc  round  holes  shaped  to 
the  proportion  of  men's  heads),  and  this  encroachment 
into  the  street  about  two  yards,  is  a  mighty  disgrace 
unto  it,  for  the  walls  (which  were  the  outside)  are 
stone  ;  so,  as  if  this  outside  facing  of  boards  were 
removed,  and  the  houses  bu.ilt  uniform  all  of  the  same 
height,  it  were  the  most  complete  street  in  Christendom. 
"  This  city  is  placed  in  a  dainty,  healthful,  pure  air, 
and  doubtless  were  a  most  healthful  place  to  live  in 
were  not  the  inhabitants  most  sluttish,  nasty,  and  sloth- 
ful people.  I  could  never  pass  through  the  hall  but 
I  was  constrained  to  hold  my  nose  :  their  chambers, 
vessels,  linen,  and  meat,  nothing  neat,  but  very  slov- 
enly ;  only  the  nobler  and  better  sort  of  them  brave, 
well-bred  men,  and  much  reformed.  This  street, 
which  may  indeed  deserve  to  denominate  the  whole 
city,  is  always  full  thronged  with  people,  it  being  the 
market-place,  and  the  only  j^lace  where  the  gentlemen 


THE    TOWNS,    1560-1660.  371 

and  mercliants  meet  and  walk,  wherein  they  may 
walk  dry  under  foot,  though  there  hath  been  abun- 
dance of  ram.  Some  few  coaches  are  here  to  be  found 
for  some  of  the  great  lords  and  ladies  and  bishops. 

"  Touching  the  fashion  of  the  citizens,  the  women 
here  Avear  and  use  upon  festival  days  six  or  seven 
several  habits  and  fashions  ;  some  for  distinction  of 
widows,  wives,  and  maids,  others  apparelled  accord- 
ing to  their  own  humour  and  phantasy.  JMany  wear 
(especially  of  the  meaner  sort)  plaids,  which  is  a  gar- 
ment of  the  same  woollen  stuff  whereof  saddle-cloths 
in  England  are  made,  which  is  cast  over  their  heads, 
and  covers  their  faces  on  both  sides,  and  would  reach 
almost  to  the  ground,  but  that  they  pluck  them  up 
and  wear  them  cast  under  their  arms.  Some  ancient 
women  and  citizens  wear  satin  straight-bodied  gowns, 
short  little  cloaks  with  great  capes,  and  a  broad  boun- 
grace  coming  over  their  brows,  and  going  out  with  a 
corner  behind  their  heads  ;  and  this  boun-grace  is,  as 
it  were,  lined  with  a  white  stracht  cambric  suitable 
unto  it.  Young  maids  not  married  all  are  bareheaded; 
some  with  broad  thin  shag  ruffs,  which  lie  flat  to  their 
shoulders,  and  others  with  half  bands  with  wide  necks, 
either  much  stiffened  or  set  in  wire,  which  comes  only 
behind ;  and  these  shag  ruffs  some  are  more  broad  and 
thick  than  others."^ 

To  the  sense  of  the  English  baronet  of  that  day 
there  was  of  course  in  Scotland  much  poverty,  dirt, 
and  discomfort.  But  the  people  of  the  Lowlands  did 
not  lie  down  on  a  dreary  dead  level  of  common  wretch- 
edness, like  the  Highlanders  and  the  Irish.  There 
were  brighter  varieties  here  and  there,  giving  the  hope 

1  Brereton's  Travels,  KU-IOS. 


372       SOCIAL    PROGRESS    SINCE    THE    REFORMATION. 

of  pvugTC'ss.  In  the  small  towns  on  the  Ayrshire  coast 
he  finds  comfort  and  pleasantness.  Irvine  is  "  daintily 
situate,  both  upon  a  navigable  arm  of  the  sea,  and  in 
a  dainty,  pleasant,  level,  champaign  country.  Excel- 
lent good  corn  there  is  near  unto  it,  where  the  ground 
is  enriched  or  made  fruitful  with  the  seaweed  or  lime." 
"  Hence  they  trade  much  into  Bourdeaux,  in  France, 
and  are  now  furnished  with  good  wine."  He  goes  on 
to  Ayr,  "  where  is  a  cleanly  neat  hostess,  victuals 
handsomely  cooked,  and  good  lodging."  "  This  also 
is  a  dainty,  pleasant-seated  town;  much  plain  rich 
corn-land  about  it."  "  Most  inhabiting  in  the  town 
are  merchants  trading  into  and  bred  in  France."  On 
these  relics  of  the  old  French  league  follows  a  grievance 
significant  of  the  period  of  Brereton's  visit :  "  Inquir- 
ing of  my  hostess  touching  the  minister  of  the  town, 
she  complained  much  against  him,  because  he  doth 
so  violently  press  the  ceremonies — especially  she  in- 
stanced in  kneeling  at  the  communion  ;  whereupon, 
upon  Easter  Day  last,  as  soon  as  he  went  to  the  com- 
munion-table, the  people  all  left  the  church  and  de- 
parted, and  not  one  of  them  stayed — only  the  pastor 
alone." 

From  these  small  trading  seaports,  with  their  humble 
amenities,  the  traveller  passes  on  to  Culzean,  the  cas- 
tellated mansion  of  the  powerful  Kennedies,  and  there 
his  sketch  is  somewhat  of  the  Irish  type.  It  is  "  a 
pretty  pleasant-seated  house  or  castle,  which  looks  full 
upon  the  main  sea.  Hereunto  we  went,  and  there  found 
no  hall,  only  a  dining-room  or  hall,  a  fair  room,  and 
almost  as  large  as  the  whole  pile,  but  very  sluttishly 
kept,  unswept,  dishes,  trenchers,  and  wooden  cups 
thrown  up  and  down,  and  the  room  very  nasty  and 
unsavoury.     Here  we  were  not  enteitained  with  a  cup 


THE    TOWNS,    1 560-1660.  373 

of  bear  or  ale ;  only  one  of  his  sons,  servants,  and 
others,  took  a  candle  and  conducted  us  to  the  cave, 
where  there  is  either  a  notable  imposture,  or  most 
strange  and  much-to-be-admired  footsteps  and  im- 
pressions which  are  here  to  be  seen  of  men,  children, 
dogs,  coneys,  and  divers  other  creatures.  These  here 
conceived  to  be  spirits,  and  if  there  be  no  such  thing 
but  an  elaborate  practice  to  deceive,  they  do  most 
impudently  betray  the  truth  ;  for  one  of  this 
knight's  sons  and  another  Galloway  gentleman 
affirmed  unto  me  that  all  the  footsteps  have  been  put 
out  and  buried  in  sand  overnight,  and  have  been  ob- 
served to  be  renewed  next  morning.  This  cave  hath 
many  narrow  passages  and  doors,  galleries  also,  and 
a  closet  with  many  rooms  hewed  with  mighty  labour 
out  of  an  hard  limestone  rock."  It  is  generally  so 
with  the  remarkable  features  of  scenery  visited  by 
the  traveller- — they  are  surrounded  by  an  atmosphere 
of  superstition,  flavoured  to  his  English  mind  with 
imposture. 

Let  us  next  find  how  our  traveller  fared  in  Glasgow, 
a  place  of  mark  even  at  that  early  period  : — 

"  About  one  hour  we  came  to  the  city  of  Glasgoaw, 
which  is  thirty-six  miles  from  Edenburgh,  eighteen 
from  Failkirke.  This  is  an  archbishop's  seat,  an 
ancient  university,  one  only  college  consisting  of 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty  students,  wherein  are 
four  schools,  one  principal,  four  regents.  There  are 
about  six  or  seven  thousand  communicants,  and  about 
twenty  thousand  persons  in  the  town,  which  is  famous 
for  the  church,  which  is  fairest  and  stateliest  in  Scot- 
land, for  the  toUboothe  and  bridge. 

"  This  church  I  viewed  this  day,  and  found  it  a 
brave  and  ancient  piece.     It  was  said,  in  this  church 


374      SOCIAL    PROGRESS    SINCE    THE    REFORMATION. 

this  day,  tliat  there  was  a  contribution  throughout 
Europe  (even  Eome  itself  contributed)  towards  the 
building  hereof.  There  is  a  great  partition  or  wall 
'twixt  the  body  of  the  church  and  the  chancel.  There 
is  no  use  of  the  body  of  the  church,  only  divine  service 
and  sermon  is  used  and  performed  in  the  quire  or 
chancel,  which  is  built  and  framed  churchwise  ;  and 
under  this  quire  there  is  also  another  church,  which 
carries  the  same  proportion  under  this,  wherein  also 
there  is  two  sermons  every  Lord's  Day.  Three  places 
or  rooms  one  above  another,  round  and  uniformed,  like 
unto  chapter  -  houses,  which  are  complete  buildings 
and  rooms. 

"  The  toleboothe,  which  is  placed  in  the  middle  of 
the  town,  and  near  unto  the  cross  and  market-place,  is  a 
very  fair  and  high-built  house,  from  the  top  Avhereof, 
being  leaded,  you  may  take  a  full  view  and  prospect 
of  the  whole  city.  In  one  of  these  rooms  or  chambers 
sits  the  council  of  this  cit}' ;  in  other  of  the  rooms  or 
chambers  j^reparation  is  made  for  the  lords  of  the 
council  to  meet  in — these  stately  rooms.  Herein  is  a 
closet  lined  Avith  iron — walls,  top,  bottom,  floor,  and 
door  iron — wherein  are  kept  the  evidences  and  records 
of  the  city  :  this  made  to  prevent  the  danger  of  fire. 
This  tolebooth  said  to  be  the  fairest  in  this  kingdom. 
The  revenues  belonging  to  this  city  are  about  £1000 
per  annum.  This  town  is  built  :  two  streets,  which 
are  built  like  a  cross,  in  the  middle  of  both  which  the 
cross  is  placed,  which  looks  four  ways  into  four  streets, 
though  indeed  they  be  but  two  straight  streets — the 
one  reaching  from  the  church  to  the  bridge,  a  mile 
long;  the  other,  which  crosseth  that,  is  much  shorter."^ 

1  Brereton's  Travels,  114,  115. 


THE    TOWNS,    1560-1660.  375 

Here  the  Englishman  came  across  a  feature  social 
and  political,  familiar  enough  to  him  in  England,  but 
soon  to  become  alien  to  Scotland.  He  went  to  the 
archiepiscopal  palace,  "  and  going  into  the  hall,  which 
is  a  poor  and  mean  place,  the  archbishop's  daughter, 
an  handsome  and  well-bred  proper  gentlewoman,  en- 
tertained me  with  much  civil  respect,  and  would  not 
suffer  me  to  depart  until  I  had  drunk  Scotch  ale, 
which  was  the  best  I  had  tasted  in  Scotland."^ 

A  few  years  afterwards,  and  during  the  Protectorate, 
Glasgow  received  a  visit  from  another  Englishman, 
named  Richard  Frank.  He  wrote  a  book  of  consid- 
erable bulk,  already  referred  to,  called  '  Northern  Me- 
moirs, calculated  for  the  Meridian  of  Scotland.'  He 
followed  a  hyperbolical  style  just  coming  into  fashion, 
and  manages,  with  a  vast  abundance  of  words,  to  say 
wonderfully  little.  The  serious  business  of  life  to  him 
was  fly-fishing,  and  experienced  anglers  have  said  that 
his  book  proves  him  to  have  been  a  highly-accom- 
plished adept  in  this  art.  He  proceeds  "  to  discourse 
this  eminent  Glasgow,  which  is  a  city  girded  about  with 
a  strong  stone  wall,  within  whose  flourishing  arms  the 
industrious  inhabitant  cultivates  art  to  the  utmost": — 

"  Here  it  is  you  may  observe  good,  large,  fair  streets, 
modelled,  as  it  were,  into  a  spacious  quadrant,  in  the 
centre  whereof  their  market-place  is  fixed  ;  near  unto 
which  stands  a  stately  tolbooth,  a  very  sumptuous, 
regulated,  uniform  fabric,  large  and  lofty,  most  indus- 
triously and  artificially  carved  from  the  very  founda- 
tion to  the  superstructure,  to  the  great  admiration  of 
strano-ers  and  travellers.  But  this  state-house  or  tol- 
booth  is  their  western  prodigy,  infinitely  excelling  the 

^  Brcreton's  Travels,  117. 


n6      SOCIAL    PROGRESS    SINCE    THE    REFORMATION. 

model  and  usual  built  of  town-halls,  and  is  without 
exception  the  paragon  of  beauty  in  the  west." 

After  much  digression  he  returns  "  to  consider  the 
merchants  and  traders  in  this  eminent  Glasgow,  whose 
storehouses  and  warehouses  are  stuffed  with  merchan- 
dise, as  their  shops  swell  big  with  foreign  commodi- 
ties and  returns  from  France  and  other  remote  parts." 
He  finds  that  "  they  generally  exceed  in  good  French 
wines,  as  they  naturally  superabound  with  flesh  and 
fowl."  Before  he  departs  he  pays  Glasgow  the  highest 
compliment  at  his  disposal  :  "  What  to  say  of  this 
eminent  Glasgow  I  know  not,  except  to  fancy  a  smell 
of  my  native  country.  The  very  prospect  of  this 
flourishing  city  reminds  me  of  the  beautiful  fabrics 
and  the  florid  fields  of  England."  And  again  :  "  The 
linen,  I  also  observed,  was  very  neatly  lapped  uj),  and, 
to  their  praise  be  it  spoken,  was  lavender-proof; 
besides,  the  people  were  decently  dressed,  and  such  an 
exact  decorum  in  every  society  represents  it  to  my 
apprehension  an  emblem  of  England,  though  in  some 
measure  under  a  deeper  die."  ^ 

The  moi'ality  of  a  country  is  no  doubt  the  most 
essential  chapter  in  its  social  history;  but  it  is  perhaps 
better  to  leave  it  to  come  forth  in  the  narrative  of 
events,  than  to  offer  a  summary  of  its  condition.  There 
are  many  barriers  in  the  way  of  such  an  attempt.  In 
the  quarrels  of  the  age  all  moral  conditions  were  exag- 
gerated. The  opposite  sides  not  only  maligned  each 
other,  but  sometimes  maligned  themselves.  With  the 
Cavalier  party  there  was  the  spirit  put  by  Scott  into 
the  mouth  of  the  tipsy  butler,  who  explained  that  a 
Cavalier  serving-man  must  drink  and  swear  according 

'  Northern  Memoirs,  104-107. 


MORALS,    1560-1660.  m 

to  his  degree,  lest  he  be  mistaken  for  a  Puritanical 
Roundhead.  In  some  instances,  too,  where  the  Cove- 
nanting party  in  the  Church  have  summed  up  the  sins 
of  the  land  as  a  testimony  to  their  own  inefficiency  in 
restraining  them,  there  is  a  tendency  to  aggravate 
their  enormity;  and  this  tendency  is  flavoured  by  a 
propensity  to  seek  for  parallels  in  the  denunciations 
of  the  prophets  of  old,  who  had  often  to  address 
themselves  to  such  brutalised  conditions  as  we  cannot 
suppose  to  have  existed  in  any  part  of  Britain. 

In  the  manifesto  of  1651,  published  at  greater  length 
in  1653,  called  'The  Causes  of  the  Lord's  Wrath 
against  Scotland,  manifested  in  His  sad  late  Dispensa- 
tions,' one  might  expect  some  account  of  the  current 
matters  of  the  day;  but  it  is  little  to  the  purpose  to 
find,  along  with  texts  hinting  at  worse  evils,  such 
standard  pulpit  denunciations  as  the  "  Woe  to  them 
that  rise  up  early  in  the  morning  to  drink  strong  drink ! " 
&c.  ;  or,  "  There  dwelt  men  of  Tyre  also  therein,  which 
bought  fish  and  all  manner  of  ware,  which  they  sold  to 
the  children  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem  on  the  Sabbath." 

In  the  golden  age  of  the  Melville  supremacy  we 
have  found  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  issuing  their 
stringent  instructions  to  their  executive  to  enforce 
the  rule  of  righteousness,  immediately  accompanied 
by  accusations  tending,  if  not  intended,  to  prove  the 
futility  of  their  corrective  organisation.  When  they 
recovered  their  powers  with  the  Covenant,  the  old 
eff'orts,  and  bewailings  of  their  insufficiency,  were  re- 
peated in  the  old  form,  as  if  it  Avere  a  precedent  for  a 
ceremonial  routine.^ 

^  The  Synod  of  Fife,  for  instance,  in  the  year  1650,  established  a 
powerful  social  police  lender  a  rule  "  that  every  parish  be  divided  into 


378      SOCIAL    PROGRESS    SINCE    THE    REFORMATION. 

If  we  are  to  take  the  intellectual  triumphs  of  a 
people — their  accomplishments  in  literature,  science, 
and  art — as  marking  the  highest  deyelopment  of  their 
social  existence,  we  come  at  the  other  end  to  the  super- 
stitious that  degrade  and  enslave  the  intellect.  They 
are  together  the  light  and  the  shade,  the  day  and  the 
night,  of  the  intellectual  circle.  The  prevalent  super- 
stitions of  Scotland  had  a  growth  assimilated  to  the 
character  of  the  country,  as  a  land  rugged  and  barren, 
swept  by  stormy  winds,  penetrated  by  long,  \\'ild 
stretches  of  sea  -  lochs,  and  cut  by  rapid  torrents. 
Among  a  people  trained  in  such  physical  conditions  the 
pallid  spectre  of  the  J^nglish  churchyard  was  of  little 
account  as  an  object  of  fireside  terror,  nor  were  the 
household  imps  familiar  in  old  English  village  life  of 
much  moment.  In  place  of  these,  Ffam  stalked  with  his 
torn-up  tree  over  the  ridge  of  the  misty  mountain  ;  he 
was  the  optical  delusion  produced  by  magnified  reflec- 
tion on  the  mist,  and  was  of  kin  to  the  renowned  spec- 
tre of  the  Broken.  There  was  the  kelpie  who  strangled 
the  traveller  in  the  stream,  or  swelled  it  into  a  flood 
to  sweep  him    clown   to   destruction ;    and  in  many 

several  quarters,  and  eacli  elder  Ids  own  quarter,  over  which  he  is  to 
have  special  inspection,  and  that  every  elder  visit  his  quarter  once  every 
month  at  least."  They  ai-e  to  "  take  notice  of  all  disorderly  walkers, 
especially  neglecters  of  God's  worship  in  their  families,  swearers, 
haunters  of  ale-houses,  especially  at  unseasonable  hours,  and  long  sitters 
there  and  drinkers  of  healths,  and  that  they  delate  these  to  the  session." 
Soon  afterwards  the}-  enacted  a  day  of  humiliation  for  the  sins 
of  the  land.  Among  these  they  specify  "the  great  and  general  con- 
tempt of  the  grace  of  the  Gospel,  the  conversation  of  many  of  the  pro- 
fessors being  not  as  becometh  the  Gospel; "  and  "the  many  abominable 
sins,  as  contempt  and  mocking  of  piety,  gross  uncleanness,  intemperance, 
breach  of  Sabbatli,  swearing,  injustice,  murmuring  against  God  abound- 
ing while  we  are  under  the  Lord's  afflicting  hand." — Selections  from  the 
Minutes  of  the  Synod  of  Fife,  168-175. 


SUPERSTITIONS,    1560-1660.  379 

other  shapes  the  casualties  fatal  to  life  in  a  country 
lull  of  dangers  were  connected  with  supernatural 
agencies  as  cause  and  effect.  The  picturesque  pro- 
p)hetic  superstition  of  the  "  second  sight "  was  the 
exclusive  possession  of  natives  of  the  farthest  High- 
lands, who  had  a  world  of  supernatural  beings  and 
agencies  peculiar  to  themselves.  But  there  was  one 
superstition  overshadowing  all  others  in  the  extent  of 
its  horrible  influence,  as  spreading  suspicion  and  ter- 
ror through  the  community,  and  driving  it  to  acts 
of  ferocity  and  cruelty.  As  the  pursuit  of  the  Witch 
rapidly  increased  in  frequency  over  Europe  after  the 
Reformation,  the  ingenious  theory  has  been  suggested, 
that  a  certain  amount  of  superstition  is  an  intellectual 
necessary  of  life  to  mankind  according  to  their  condi- 
tion in  culture,  and  if  it  is  not  supplied  to  them  they 
will  take  it.  Hence,  not  having  it  in  the  decorous 
and  pompous  ceremonials  in  which  it  was  administered 
to  them  by  the  Church  of  Rome,  they  took  it  as  supplied 
by  their  own  degraded  and  unguided  fancies.  But 
another  explanation  of  this  superstition  suggests  itself 
Through  much  investigation  into  certain  phenomena, 
a  laborious  classification  of  the  results,  and  a  deduction 
of  general  laws  from  that  classification,  a  sort  of 
science  had  been  found  for  the  operations  of  witchcraft. 
The  Church  took  the  command  of  this  as  a  portion 
of  philosophical  knowledge  especially  its  own.  The 
collection  of  treatises  known  to  erratic  readers  as 
the  'Malleus  Maleficarum,'  or  Hammer  of  Witches, 
received  the  sanction  of  the  Church,  and  became  the 
standard  of  doctrine  to  which  all  who  discoursed  on 
the  important  science  of  witchcraft  appealed.  Great 
students,  admitted  also  to  be  great  teachers,  pre-eminent 


38o      SOCIAL    PROGRESS    SINCE    THE    REFORMATION. 

among  whom  was  tlie  illustrious  Delrio,  discoursed  on 
the  doctrines  of  this  science  as  adepts  now  discourse 
on  astronomy  and  geology.  The  whole  affair  is  a 
humiliating  instance  of  what  human  science  may 
become,  but  it  is  of  interest  here  from  the  following 
considerations  : — 

The  facts  brought  forth  in  a  great  body  of  trials  for 
witchcraft  in  Scotland  supply  apt  illustrations  of  the 
doctrines  of  the  authorities  on  witchcraft — illustrations 
just  as  apt  as  the  clinical  student  finds  in  the  wards  of 
a  hospital  to  the  doctrines  laid  down  in  the  leading 
practical  authorities  of  the  day.  We  have  the  negotia- 
tions and  treaties  with  the  Evil  One,  ending  in  the 
transference  of  the  claim  on  salvation  for  certain  gifts 
at  his  disposal.  There  are  the  great  Sabbaths  or 
assemlDlies  for  his  worship  immortalised  in  the  Wal- 
purgis  night.  The  loathsome  doctrine  of  the  incubus 
and  succuba  is  exemplified  with  horrible  minuteness. 
Some  phenomena  coming  down  to  the  scientific 
authorities  from  the  Greek  and  Latin  classics  are 
repeated  with  equal  fidelity,  as  the  metamorphosis 
from  human  creature  to  beast,  the  two  animals  chiefly 
resorted  to  by  the  restless  being  the  cat  and  the 
wolf.  Another  feature  of  classic  descent  is  the 
vicarious  torture  or  slaughter  by  symbolical  infliction 
on  a  waxen  image.  The  necromantic  use  of  the 
remains  of  the  dead  is  a  doctrine  of  the  sages  amply 
exemplified  in  Scottish  practice,  and  so  are  the  aerial 
journeys  of  the  servants  of  Satan  to  attend  the  great 
gatherings  ordered  by  their  master  in  distant  regions. 
Even  the  minor  agencies — through  toads,  snakes,  and 
other  creatures  odious  or  venomous — are  according  to 
precedent.     The  shapes,  too,  in  which  the  victims  are 


SUPERSTITIONS,    1560-1660.  381 

afflicted  through  these  agencies,  conform  to  the  estab- 
lished doctrine  of  the  authorities. 

In  its  own  day  the  coincidence  was  natural  and 
satisfactory,  as  a  fitting  together  of  fact  and  doctrine. 
In  the  present  day  it  leaves  room  for  none  but  a  very 
horrible  conclusion,  too  well  supported  by  the  facts. 
Towards  those  who  came  under  the  suspicion  of  dia- 
bolical dealing  there  was  no  pity  left  in  the  human 
heart.  True,  the  doctrine  that  suspicion  was  not 
proof  existed  nominally  for  this  as  for  other  accusa- 
tions, but  nominally  only.  Where  the  suspicion 
alighted  it  carried  belief  with  it,  so  as  to  render  this 
chapter  in  the  history  of  human  wrongs  perhaps  the 
very  darkest  and  saddest  of  them  all.  It  followed 
from  all  this,  that  tortm'e  was  applied  in  inexhaustible 
abundance  to  the  accused.  It  was  applied  in  the 
presence  of  sages  learned  in  the  doctrines  of  witch- 
craft. They  knew,  indeed,  the  things  that  ought  to 
be  confessed,  just  as  the  expert  physician  knows  the 
symptoms  that  his  patient  ought  to  describe  to  him. 
So  under  the  infliction  of  torture  the  wretches  ad- 
mitted whatever  was  charged  against  them,  and  their 
wonderful  confessions  were  duly  recorded. 

In  Scotland  the  approved  doctrines  of  witchcraft 
had  the  sanction  of  the  highest  authority.  King 
James  himself  was  one  of  the  sages  of  the  science,  as 
the  author  of  the  '  Dsemonologie '  in  three  books.  He 
had  wonderful  practical  experience,  too,  to  guide  him. 
There  was  a  strong  muster  of  the  Satanic  world  to 
interrupt  his  return  home  from  Scandinavia  with  his 
bride,  and  the  interest  and  value  of  the  phenomenon 
was  increased  by  a  co-operative  body  of  witches  on 
the  Scandinavian  side,  the  two  affording  a  crucial  ex- 


382      SOCIAL    PROGRESS    SINCE    THE    REFORMATION. 

periment  on  the  laws  of  dcmonology.  The  forms  of 
witclicraft  doA'i 'loped  in  Scotland  had  the  grand 
picturesqueness  which  recommended  them  to  the  pm- 
poses  of  (Shakespeare ;  and  of  all  the  supernatural 
escapades  admitted  by  them  in  their  confessions,  none 
are  more  richly  endowed  with  the  grotesque,  the 
fanciful,  and  the  horrible,  than  those  which  were 
confessed  in  the  presence  of  King  James  himself,  as 
appertaining  to  designs  entertained  and  attempted  by 
the  powers  of  daxkness  against  his  own  sacred  person.^ 
With  these,  his  own  peculiar  people,  the  prince  of 
darkness  was  at  home.  They  had  proffered  their 
services  and  become  the  covenanted  slaves  of  his  will. 


'  For  special  information  on  the  phenomena  of  witchcraft  in  Soot- 
lanrl,  the  inquirer  may  be  referred  to  Chambers's  '  Dduiustic  Annals 
of  Scotland,'  Pitcairn's  '  Ci'iminal  Trials,'  Sir  John  Dalzell's  'Darker 
Superstitions  of  Scotland,'  Kirkpatrick  Sharpe's  introduction  to 
'  Law's  Memorials,'  the  Miscellany  of  the  Spalding  Club,  and  a 
'  Diurnal  of  Occurrcnts  in  Scotland,'  in  the  Miscellany  of  the  Spottis- 
wood  Society. 

The  tenacity  of  a  belief  in  witchcraft  among  educated  people  in  Scot- 
land is  signally  exemplitied  in  the  methodical  ti-eatnient  of  the  crime 
and  its  symptoms  in  a  law-book  of  the  dryest  professional  character 
— 'The  Institutes  of  the  Law  of  Scotland,'  publisheil  in  1730,  "by 
William  Forbes,  advocate,  professor  of  law  in  the  University  of  Glasgow  " : 
"  Witchcraft  is  that  black  art  whereby  strange  and  wonderful  things 
are  wrought  Ijy  a  power  derived  from  the  devil"  (p.  32).  He  excuses 
himself  for  declining  to  follow  the  example  of  the  English  commentators, 
who  touch  the  matter  as  if  it  was  an  obsolete  belief  :  "  Nothing  seems 
plainer  to  me  than  that  there  may  be  and  have  been  witches,  and  that 
perhaps  such  are  now  actually  existing  ;  wdiich  I  intend,  God  willing, 
to  clear  in  a  larger  work  concerning  the  criminal  law  "  (p.  371).  When 
the  penal  laws  against  witchcraft  were  repealed  in  1736,  the  religious 
community,  professing  to  be  the  rejire.sentative  of  the  Church  in  the  days 
of  its  purity  under  the  Melvilles,  lifted  a  vehement  testimony  against 
the  repeal  as  "  contrary  to  the  express  law  of  God  ;  for  which  a  holy 
God  may  be  provoked  in  a  way  of  righteous  judgment  to  leave  those 
who  are  already  ensnared  to  be  haidened  more  and  more,  and  to  per- 
mit Satan  to  tempt  and  seduce  others  to  the  .same  wicked  and  dangerous 


SUPERSTITIONS,    1560-1660.  383 

But  liis  power  over  these  once  established  in  firm  be- 
lief, there  was  a  tendency  to  extend  it,  as  an  easy  and 
rational  solution  of  moral  difficulties.  It  was  thus 
followed  into  remons  where  its  action  was  more  subtle 
and  treacherous.  It  could  establish  itself  within  the 
moral  nature  of  those  who  had  not  offered  themselves 
as  victims — who  were  seeking  another  master — who 
had  even  found  him  and  entered  the  circle  of  the  elect 
people  of  God.  Here,  looking  at  the  phenomenon  from 
without,  there  might  be  seen  established  within  the  new 
Church,  what  was  virtually  equivalent  to  one  of  the 
scandals  of  the  old,  a  licence  to  sin  admitted  by  man 
in  favour  of  his  neighbour.  Demoniacal  possession 
served  amply  the  purpose  of  indulgence.  Without 
comparing  with  each  other  the  merits  of  the  two 
Churches,  we  have  the  fact  that  in  both  there  were 
people  endowed  with  a  small  morsel  of  religion  and  a 
large  share  of  wickedness,  who  desired  to  make  such 
religion  as  they  could  command  minister  to  their  vices. 
In  this  way  absolute  demoniacal  possession  was  a 
plenary  indulgence  obtained  without  payment  of  a 
price.  This  is  one  of  the  moral  phenomena  calcu- 
lated to  teach  us  how  in  all  feuds,  civil  and  religious, 
however  far  the  men  of  the  two  factions  draw  oif 
from  each  other,  they  are  still  the  men  of  the  period, 
subject  to  the  like  passions  and  affections  ;  and  it  has 
been  an  evil  thing  for  truth  that  the  writers  about 
such  periods  should  think  it  their  duty  to  paint  the 
one  side  as  angelic  and  the  other  as  diabolical. 

It  was  perhaps  from  this  sense  of  enslavement  to 
the  power  of  evil,  that  men  who  had  trodden  in  a 
peculiarly  strict  path  of  life,  when  they  lapsed  into 
Avickedness,    not    only    confessed   their    crimes    with 


384      SOCIAL    PROGRESS    SINCE    THE    REFORMATION. 

broad  distinctness,  but  drew  tliem  in  their  darkest 
colours,  sometimes  even  in  the  spirit  of  exaggeration, 
as  if  the  deeper  the  atrocity  of  the  crime  the  clearer 
was  it  that  the  responsibility  was  removed  from  the 
perpetrator  to  the  Power  of  evil.  Thus  John  Kello, 
a  minister  of  the  most  rigid  class,  murdered  his  Avife 
and  made  full  confession  of  his  crime.  He  had  no 
motive  for  his  crime,  he  said,  "but  the  continual  sug- 
gestions of  the  wicked  spirit  to  advance  myself  further 
and  further  in  the  world."  "  These  were  the  glistering 
promises  wherewith  Satan,  after  his  accustomed  manner, 
clouded  my  senses,  and  prevailed  so  in  my  corrupted 
mind  that  the  space  of  forty  days  together  I  did  await 
only  upon  the  opportunity  of  time  to  put  my  Avicked 
desire  in  execution."  As  if  to  exaggerate  his  crime, 
he  said  he  loved  his  victim  tenderly ;  and  she  was 
eminently  worthy  of  all  love — so  devoted  to  him, 
that  Avhen,  "  pressed  forAvard  by  the  temptation  of 
the  enemy,"  he  was  doing  the  deed,  she  "  in  the  very 
death  could  not  believe  I  bore  her  any  evil-will,  but 
Avas  glad,  as  she  then  said,  to  depart,  if  her  death  could 
do  me  either  vantage  or  pleasure."-^ 

This  articulate  individualising  of  the  poAvers  of 
good  and  evil,  and  the  severing  of  the  two  into  op- 
posite armies  set  in  material  hostility  Avith  each  other, 
had  a  terrible  and  brutalising  influence  on  the  polem- 
ical and  superstitious  passions.  The  tendencies  that 
soften  their  hard  logic — charity,  sympathy,  compassion 
— were  all  excluded.  There  could  be  none  of  these  for 
the  great  enemy.  Admit  that  Satan  himself  was  the 
being  to  be  fought  with  or  punished,  there  could  be  no 
quarter.     Any  suggestion  of  compromise,  any  admis- 

^  Bannatyne's  Memorials,  53  et  scq. 


SUPERSTITIONS,    1560-1660.  385 

sion  that  he  might  be  spared  or  pitied,  was  arrant 
lilasphemy.  Hence  the  relentless  cruelties  inflicted  by 
a  people  not  cruel  by  nature  upon  those  who  fell 
under  the  blight  of  witchcraft.  And  something  of  the 
same  feeling  crept  into  religious  controversy,  and  gave 
it  the  tone  of  intolerance  that  so  ill  becomes  those 
who  are  counted  among  the  champions  of  free  thought 
in  Scotland.  If  the  inspiration  of  the  Sectaries  and 
the  Malignants  were  but  the  manifestation  of  the 
power  of  evil — and  there  was  ever  a  suspicion  that  it 
Avas — then,  indeed,  the  toleration  of  it  was  a  crime  of 
the  darkest  hue.  We  may  perhaps  have  opportunity 
of  seeing  the  influence  of  this  spirit  on  the  history  of 
the  dismal  period  now  approaching. 


VOL.  VII.  -   B 


CHAPTER    LXXVII. 
Restoration  .Scttlftnent. 

ARRIVAL  OF  THE  KING  IN  LONDON — THE  REJOICINGS  IN  SCnT- 
LAND — RESUMPTION  OF  COMMITTEE  OF  ESTATES — THE  ENGLISH 
NAVIGATION  ACT,  AND  END  OF  FRKE-'IRADE  —  THE  TESTIMONY 
OF  THE  REMONSTRANT  PARTY THEIR  CONDITION  AND  IN- 
FLUENCE— PROSPECTS    OF    RELIGION — AMBASSADORS    AT    COURT 

FOR   THE    MODERATE    PARTY   OF   THE    CHURCH HISTORY   OF  THE 

NEGOTIATIONS    OF    JAMES     SHARP SENT    TO    PLEAD    FOR    THE 

PRESBYTERIAN     CAUSE,  AND     RETURNS     AS     ARCHBISHOP     OF    ST 

ANDREWS — THE   REGALIA    PRESERVED LOSS    OF   RECORDS — THE 

FORTRESSES MEETING    OF    ESTATES MIDDLETON    AS    COMMIS- 
SIONER— THE   EQUIVOCAL    PROMISES    ABOUT   THE   CHURCH — THE 

ACT    RESCISSORY ESTABLISHMENT     OF     EPISCOPAL    HIERARCHY 

VICTIMS — ARGYLE — GUTHRIE — WARRISTON. 

As  soon  as  the  news  of  the  29th  of  May  IGGO  could 
reach  Scotland,  it  became  known  that  Cliarh's  II.  Lad 
arrived  in  England,  and  was  there  received  with  a 
sort    of    delirious   joy.^       The    active    part    of   "  the 

'  Perhaps  the  Bpirit  of  the  time  is  sufficiently  expTcsKcd  in  a  con- 
temporary account  of  the  rejoicings  in  Eilinliurgh  on  the  coronation-day — 
a  scene  much  in  contrast  with  anything  that  had  been  known  in  Scotland 
for  a  generation:  "  Sermon  (tnded,  the  Lord  Oomruissioner  returned  to 
the  royal  palace  attended  by  great  numbers  of  nobility,  knights,  and 
gentry ;  and  all  feasted  at  one  time,  and  at  several  tables,  in  a  most 
splendid  and  magnificent  manner.  And  that  nothing  miglit  be  wanting 
to  complete  the  solemnity,  the  Lord  Commissioner's  lady,  with  her 
daughters,  at  the  same  tinje,  in  another  room,  entertained  many  ladies  of 
quality  witli  all  the  rarities  and  didicacies  iojaginable,  and  with  such 
admirable  concerts  of  music  as  liardly  could  been  exjjccti^d  from  u  nation 


RESTORATION,    1660.  387 

Restoration  belongs  to  the  history  of  England,  or  of 
Britain  generally ;  it  is  only  in  its  consequences  that 
there  arise  facts  sufficient  in  their  distinct  importance 
to  keep  up  the  thread  of  separate  national  history  in 

so  depressed.  Towards  the  middle  of  dinner  liis  majesty's  health  begun 
liy  the  Lord  Commissioner,  a  sign  given  from  the  terrace,  the  cannons 
of  the  castle  began  to  thunder,  which  was  answered  from  the  citadel  at 
Leith  with  the  like  roaring ;  and  the  great  pyramid  of  coals  and  tar- 
barrels  which  was  in  the  out-court  of  the  palace  was  like^\^.se  given  fire 
to,  which  for  its  greatness  was  extraordinary ;  and  if  it  had  been  on  the 
top  of  a  hill  in  the  night-time,  for  two  miles  about  it  would  have  shown 
light  to  have  sung  Te  Beums  in  the  smallest  print,  and  put  into  a  sweat 
any  that  had  been  frozen  with  the  greatest  fit  of  a  cold,  and  at  the  same 
distance  too.  After  dinner  the  young  lords  and  ladies  came  out  and 
danced  all  sorts  of  country  dances  and  reels  ;  and  none  busyer  than 
the  young  Lord  Clermont,  son  of  the  Lord  Commissioner,  who  was  so 
ra\'ished  with  joj'  that  if  he  had  not  been  restrained  he  had  thro'mi  rings, 
chains,  jewels,  and  all  that  was  precious  about  him,  into  the  fire. 

"  Now  let  us  take  a  little  notice  of  the  great  signs  of  joy  manifested 
by  our  ancient  and  good  to-n-n  of  Edinburg.  After  the  Lord  Provost, 
Sir  Robert  Murray,  with  the  bailies,  common  councU,  and  other  magis- 
trates, had  turned  up  their  spiritual  thanks  to  heaven  for  so  blessed  an 
occasion,  then  they  went  altogether  to  a  place  appointed  for  the  purpose, 
and  in  a  most  magnificent  manner  regaled  themselves  with  those  human 
lawful  refreshment  which  is  allowable  for  the  grandeur  of  so  eminent  a 
blessing.  By  that  time  their  feast  was  finished,  the  bonfire  bells  alarmed 
them  to  mind  the  carrying  on  of  the  work  of  the  night.  The  Lord 
provost,  with  the  magistrates — each  of  them  with  a  white  baton  in  their 
handstand  the  rest  of  the  council,  appeared  at  the  cross,  which  was  dis- 
posed in  a  most  hospitable  piece  of  pageant — viz.,  a  splendid  representa- 
tion of  a  vineyard  with  all  the  cognisances  of  Bachus,  and  under  a  large 
wine-tree  of  swelling  and  bushy  clusters  did  that  same  god  of  frolics 
bestride  a  hogshead  of  the  most  gracious  claret.  He  was  accompanied 
with  his  uncle  Silenus  and  some  half-a-score  of  most  lovely  and  wanton 
Bachides ;  this  same  grave  and  spungy  moderator  by  proclamation  gave 
most  ample  permission  to  all  mankind,  for  the  space  of  twelve  hours  by 
the  clock,  to  be  as  mad  with  mirth  as  their  imaginations  could  fancy. 
The  indulgence  was  no  sooner  pronounced  but  streams  of  claret  gushed 
from  the  conduits ;  trumpets,  flutes,  and  all  sorts  of  carousing  instrument 
which  might  screw  up  the  passions,  did  forthwith  sound  a  charge ;  the 
breaking  of  glasses  and  tumbling  of  conduits  among  the  commonalty 
made  a  greater  noise  than  the  clashing  of  Xerxes'  armies'  armoiir  did  at 
a  narrow  pass  when  they  were  upon  a  rout." — Edinburgh's  Joy  for  his 
Majesty's  Coronation  in  England. 


388  CHARLES    II. 

Scotland.  It  was  again  religion  and  the  Church  that 
was  to  stir  into  activity  the  materials  of  history.  But 
on  this  occasion  the  power  roused  by  religious  fervour 
in  Scotland  did  not,  as  in  the  days  of  the  Covenant, 
shake  England  also.  The  events,  too,  were  not  to 
open  to  the  zealous  a  brilliant  and  triumphant  career. 
The  predominant  features  in  the  new  epoch  were  to 
)je  defeats  and  sufferings,  and  they  were  to  be  borne 
by  Scotland  alone,  with  no  aid  and  scant  sympathy 
from  without. 

A  convenient  arrangement  had  been  bequeathed 
from  the  days  before  the  Commonwealth  for  the 
immediate  administration  of  business.  It  was  put 
into  the  hands  of  the  Committee  of  Estates,  as  it  was 
constituted  at  the  time  when  Charles  II.  was  crowned 
at  Scone.  It  was  a  body  that  had  been  originally 
created  in  defiance  of  and  to  thwart  the  Crown,  but 
in  the  present  juncture  of  loyalty  it  could  be  trusted 
until  the  king  sent  a  commissioner  to  preside  over  a 
meeting  of  the  Estates. 

The  convention  Parliament  of  England  had  been 
assembled,  and  was  sitting  for  the  transaction  of  busi- 
ness when  the  king  arrived.  One  of  the  earliest  Acts 
of  this  Parliament  affected  Scotland,  and  it  therefore 
happens  that  the  civil  history  of  Scotland  at  the  junc- 
ture of  the  Restoration  begins  in  Westminster.  The 
"  Act  for  the  encouraging  and  increasing  of  shipping 
and  navigation,"  commonly  called  "  the  Navigation 
Act,"  has  just  as  much  direct  reference  to  Russia  as 
it  has  to  Scotland,  and  yet  it  was  to  the  Scottish  peo- 
ple a  sudden  calamity  followed  by  a  long  train  of 
disastrous  consequences.  The  leading  rule  of  that 
Act — a  rule  long  held  in  reverence  as  the  legislative 


NAVIGATION    ACT,    1660.  389 

guardian  of  English  trade — is  in  these  words  :  "  No 
goods  or  commodities  whatsoever  shall  be  imported 
into  or  exported  out  of  any  lands,  islands,  plantations, 
or  territories  to  his  majesty  belonging,  &c.,  in  Asia, 
Africa,  or  America,  in  any  other  ship  or  ships,  vessel 
or  vessels,  whatsoever,  but  in  such  ships  or  vessels  as 
do  truly  and  without  fraud  belong  only  to  the  people 
of  England  or  Ireland,  dominion  of  Wales,  or  town  of 
Berwick-upon-Tweed,"  or  of  some  English  settlement. 
Further,  there  was  provision  that  merchandise  should 
not  be  imported  from  abroad  into  England  except  in 
English  vessels,  or  the  vessels  of  the  place  where  the 
goods  were  produced.  In  brief,  there  could  be  no 
trade  with  the  English  colonies  but  in  English  vessels, 
and  no  goods  could  be  imported  into  England  from 
any  place  abroad  by  ships  that  did  not  belong  either 
to  England  or  the  place  whence  the  goods  were 
brought.  Thus  no  vessel  belonging  to  Scotland, 
HoUand,  or  France,  could  trade  in  the  produce  of 
the  English  colonies,  or  between  Spain  or  any  other 
country  and  England.  To  such  goods  as  came 
through  the  narrowed  channel  of  trade  from  foreign 
countries,  alien  duties  were  attached  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  English  trade.  That  the  bearing  of  this  Act 
on  Scotland  was  kept  in  full  view  when  it  was  pre- 
pared, is  shown  by  a  curious  clause  of  exemption,  by 
which  alien  duties  are  not  to  apply  to  "  any  corn  of 
the  growth  of  Scotland,  or  to  any  salt  made  in  Scot- 
land, nor  to  any  fish  caught,  saved,  and  cured  by  the 
people  of  Scotland,  and  imported  directly  from  Scot- 
land in  Scotch-built  ships,  and  whereof  the  master  and 
three-fourths  of  the  mariners  are  of  his  majesty's  sub- 
jects; nor  to  any  seal-oil  of  Eussia  imported  from 


390  CHARLES    II. 

thence  into  England,  Ireland,  Wales,  or  town  of  Ber- 
wick-upon-Tweed, in  shipping  bo7ia  fide  to  any  of  the 
said  places  belonging,  and  whereof  the  master  and 
three-fourths  of  the  mariners  at  least  are  English."  ^ 

By  this  Act  the  free  commerce  between  Scotland 
and  England,  which  had  lasted  for  six  years,  was  at 
once  suppressed,  and  the  infant  progress  of  Scotland 
in  wealth  and  enterprise  was  blighted.  The  Naviga- 
tion Act  was  the  foundation  of  that  great,  complicated, 
and  laborious  system  of  restrictive  and  prohibitory 
commercial  legislation  which  has  now  been  swept 
from  the  statute-book.  The  navigation  laws  were  an 
invention  of  the  Eepublic  for  the  purpose  of  ruining 
the  Dutch,  who  threatened  to  engross  the  shipping 
and  commerce  of  the  whole  world.  The  Restoration 
Government  saw  that  it  was  good,  and  immediately 
preserved  it  in  a  legitimate  Act  of  Parliament.  Those 
statesmen  of  times  not  long  past  who  had  least  sym- 
j)athy  with  the  Commonwealth,  admitted  that  its  states- 
men did  one  wise  thing  when  they  laid  the  foundation 
of  the  restrictive  and  prohibitory  commercial  system. 
The  economic  policy  of  the  present  age  utterly  con- 
demns the  system ;  but  that  condemnation  does  not 
reverse  the  view,  that  as  part  of  a  system  in  which  the 
island  of  Britain  was  one  country,  it  was  eminently 
advantageous  to  the  Scots.  To  them  the  trade  of 
England  was  worth  the  trade  of  the  rest  of  the  world 
many  times  over.  This  just  rendered  it  all  the  more 
necessary  that  they  should  no  longer  retain  it.  The 
navigation  laws  were  one  of  those  great  acts  of 
homage  to  the  trade  jealousy  which  was  growing 
in  strength  and   casting   its  unamiable  shadow  over 

1  Act  12,  ch.  ii.  ch.  18. 


NAVIGATION   ACT,    l66o.  391 

England.  The  Scots,  like  the  English  an  energetic, 
industrious,  commercial  nation,  were  more  dangerous 
than  the  French  or  the  Spanish,  because  they  were 
close  at  hand.  When  the  Scots  afterwards  attempted 
to  rival  the  English  monopoly,  and  to  trade  and  colonise 
on  their  own  account,  the  English  merchants  pursued 
and  ruined  them.  The  efforts  of  Scotland  and  the 
jealousy  of  England  both  culminated  in  the  renowned 
Darien  expedition.  The  result  of  that  was,  that  either 
there  must  be  toleration  and  interchange  of  trading 
privileges,  or  Scotland  would  have  a  separate  sover- 
eignty for  itself,  and  fight,  as  of  old,  its  own  cause ; 
and  the  consequence  of  this  emergency  was  the  Union 
of  1707.  Such  was  the  legacy  of  events  left  by  a 
piece  of  statesmanship  belonging  to  that  useful  but 
uneventful  class  which  history  shuns.  It  is  not 
wonderful,  indeed,  that  in  the  many  incidents, 
tragic  or  otherwise,  of  the  period,  such  a  matter  as  the 
Navigation  Act  should  be  passed  by.  It  is  necessary 
that  we  now  turn  to  the  scene  of  these  events  so 
diff'erent  in  character,  and  they  again  drive  us  into 
the  thick  of  ecclesiastical  squabbles. 

A  small  body  of  clergymen  and  elders  desired 
their  brethren  of  the  Church  to  unite  with  them  in  a 
dutiful  address  or  "  supplication"  to  his  majesty.  The 
clergy  at  large,  not  liking  the  names  of  those  who  so 
appealed  to  them,  held  aloof ;  and  the  promoters  met 
to  prepare  their  appeal  in  the  house  of  Eobert  Simp- 
son, a  citizen  of  Edinburgh,  on  the  23d  of  August 
1660.  The  supplication  resolved  itself  into  some- 
thing more  like  a  demand  than  those  of  twenty  years 
earlier.  They  addressed  the  king  as  one  of  themselves 
— a  Covenanted  monarch.     They  reminded  him  of  the 


392  CHARLES    II. 

fact  thus  :  "  We  hope  that  your  majesty  will  uot  take 
oiience  if  we  be  the  Lord's  remembrancers  to  you  that 
you  were  pleased,  a  little  before  your  coming  into  this 
kingdom,  and  afterwards  at  the  time  of  your  corona- 
tion, to  assure  and  declare  by  your  solemn  oath  under 
your  hand  and  seal  in  the  presence  of  Almighty  God, 
the  searcher  of  hearts,  your  allowance  and  ajjproba- 
tion  of  the  National  Covenant,  and  of  the  Solemn 
League  and  Covenant,  faithfully  obliging  yourself  to 
prosecute  the  ends  thereof  in  your  station  and  call- 
ing." 

That  he  may  be  fully  informed  as  to  the  nature  of 
the  obligations  so  undertaken,  they  utter  their  expec- 
tations thus  :  "  That  you  would  employ  your  royal 
power  unto  the  preservation  of  the  Eeformed  religion 
in  the  Church  of  Scotland  in  doctrine,  worship,  dis- 
cipline, and  government;  and  in  the  reformation  of 
religion  in  the  kingdoms  of  England  and  Ireland  in 
doctrine,  worship,  discipline,  and  government ;  and  in 
the  carrying  on  the  work  of  uniformity  in  religion  in 
the  Churches  of  God  in  the  three  kingdoms,  in  one 
confession  of  faith,  form  of  Church  government,  direc- 
tory for  worship,  and  catechising ;  and  to  the  extirpa- 
tion of  Popery,  Prelacy,  superstition,  heresy,  schism, 
profaneness,  and  whatsoever  shall  be  found  contrary 
to  sound  doctrine  and  the  power  of  godliness  ;  and 
that  all  places  of  power  and  trust  under  your  majesty 
may  be  filled  with  such  as  have  taken  the  Covenant, 
and  are  of  approven  integrity  and  known  affection  in 
the  cause  of  God." 

They  know  that  there  are  designs  to  overthrow  the 
"  blessed  work,"  and  "to  reintroduce  Prelacy  and  the 
ceremonies  and  the  Service-book,  and  all  those  cor- 


REMONSTRANT    TESTIMONY.  393 

ruptious  which  Avere  formerly  cast  out."  But  should 
these  projects  be  successful,  they  "  cannot,  without 
horror  of  heart  and  astonishment  of  spirit,  think  of 
what  dreadful  guiltiness  kings,  princes,  ministers,  and 
people  shall  be  involved  into,  and  what  fearful  wrath 
shall  attend  them  from  the  face  of  an  angry  and 
jealous  God." 

They  admit  that  they  would  be  no  less  apprehen- 
sive were  there  a  chance  of  the  restoration  "  of  the 
spirit  of  eiTor  that  possesseth  sectaries  in  these  na- 
tions, which  as  it  did  at  first  j)romote  the  practice  of 
a  vast  toleration  in  things  religious,  and  afterwards 
proceeded  to  the  framing  of  the  mischief  thereof  into 
a  law ; "  and  they  know  that  there  are  some  who  are 
prepared  to  renew  this  licence  "under  the  specious 
pretence  of  liberty  for  tender  consciences."  They 
conclude  their  supplication,  of  which  these  extracts 
are  but  a  small  part,  with  something  like  an  invoca- 
tion :  "  It  is  the  desire  of  our  souls  that  your  majesty 
may  be  like  unto  David,  according  to  God's  own 
heart ;  like  unto  Solomon,  of  an  understanding  heart 
to  judge  the  Lord's  people,  and  to  discern  betwixt 
good  and  bad ;  like  unto  Jehoshaphat,  whose  heart 
was  lifted  up  in  the  ways  of  the  Lord ;  like  unto 
Hezekiah,  eminent  for  goodness  and  integrity;  like 
unto  Josias,  who  was  of  a  tender  heart,  and  did  hum- 
ble himself  before  God,"  &c.^  If  these  parallels  ever 
found  their  way  into  the  ante-chambers  at  Whitehall, 
it  is  easy  to  imagine  them  creating  much  merriment. 

This  supplication  was  never  presented.  The  Com- 
mittee of  Estates,  calling  the  meeting  "  a  conventicle 

'  "  The  Ministers'  [designed]  Supplication "  will  be  found  in  full  in 
Wodrow,  i.  68  ei  seq. 


394  CHARLES    II. 

and  private  meeting  of  some  remonstrating  and  pro- 
testing ministei's,"  sent  a  warrant  committing  them 
to  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh. 

As  it  is  proper  to  keep  in  view  the  peculiar  tenor 
of  this  document,  it  is  also  proper  to  note  who  its 
adherents  were.  They  were  the  remnant  of  the  Re- 
monstrants of  the  west.  The  past  ten  years  had 
been  unpropitious  to  their  growth  in  numbers  and 
strength.  The  Protectorate  kept  their  enemies  from 
persecuting  them,  and  in  some  measure  favoured  them 
for  the  one  virtue  of  their  disliking  the  house  of 
Stewart.  Their  sole  grievance  was,  that  they  were 
not  permitted  to  assail  the  large  portion  of  the 
human  race  who  were  heretics  from  their  own  centre 
of  truth.  If  their  existence  mio;ht  be  likened  to 
physical  or  mental  disturbance  in  the  body  politic  of 
Scotland,  the  effect  of  the  political  treatment  admin- 
istered by  the  Protectorate  might  be  likened  to  that 
of  soporifics  and  rest  on  the  excited  patient.  The 
more  they  raved,  indeed,  the  less  sympathy  did  the 
great  bulk  of  the  community  give  them ;  and  there 
can  be  no  greater  mistake  than  to  suppose,  as  some 
people  have  from  what  afterwards  befell,  that  these 
men  represented  the  prevailing  feeling  of  the  Scots  at 
the  juncture  of  the  Eestoration.  Whatever  remnant 
of  the  old  frenzy  remained  with  these  zealots  of  the 
west,  the  country  at  large,  Presbyterian  and  Episco- 
palian, had  little  sympathy  in  it.  The  country  was 
never  in  a  more  tolerant  or  moderate  temper.  Of 
those  who,  like  Baillie,  were  not  Remonstrants,  yet 
had  seen  the  Covenant  work  its  way  over  the  land  as 
if  led  by  the  finger  of  God,  and  who  expected  to  see 
the  restoration  of  Zion,  the  number  was  small,  and  they 


REMONSTRANT    TESTIMONY.  395 

were  old,  with  little  practical  influence.  Their  doctrine, 
that  all  the  three  kingdoms  must  become  Covenanted, 
would  have  been  dealt  with  as  a  mere  obsolete  form  of 
speech  in  which  the  men  of  former  things  were  entitled 
to  indulge,  had  the  good  spirit  that  was  alive  in  the 
people  been  cultivated  and  caressed.  Without  ventur- 
ing to  decide  whether  or  not  the  nation  might  have 
assented  to  a  moderate  Episcopacy,  it  was  heartily 
tired  of  things  past,  and  ready  for  moderation  in  some 
form  or  other.  One  powerful  element  of  the  old  re- 
sistance was  gone.  With  the  zealous  Covenanters  the 
landowners  had  now  no  common  cause.  A  quarter  of 
a  century  had  passed  since  the  climax  of  their  terror, 
that  the  Church  property  gathered  by  them  during 
the  previous  seventy-five  years  would  be  torn  from 
them.  A  new  generation  now  held  these  lands ;  and 
the  rapid  succession  of  convulsions  since  the  settle- 
ment of  1633,  when  tithes  were  commuted,  had 
driven  out  of  recollection  a  matter  so  little  before  the 
world — so  completely  each  man's  private  affair — as  the 
fear  that  the  settlement  was  only  a  first  step  towards 
the  restoration  of  all  the  old  ecclesiastical  property  to 
the  Church.  It  needed  the  conjunction  of  two  spirits 
so  peculiar  as  those  of  Charles  I.  and  Laud  to  rouse 
such  an  apprehension  ;  and  such  a  conjunction  was 
one  of  the  rare  things  which  men  do  not  expect 
every  day,  and  only  feel  when  they  are  really  seen  to 
be  approaching.  On  the  other  hand,  they  had  more 
recent  recollections  of  the  hard  discipline  exercised 
over  their  life  and  conversation  by  the  Presbyterian 
clergy,  and  were  in  no  humour  to  submit  to  their  yoke. 
The  clergy  themselves  were  weary  of  the  bondage 
of  "  the  sectaries,"  and  in  the  bulk  tlioroughly  loyal. 


CHARLES    II. 

zealous  Covenanting  historian,  speaking  out  of  the 
pirit  driven  into  his  community  by  the  events  that 
were  to  come,  said  of  his  countrymen  of  the  Restora- 
tion period:  "  Meantime  the  king's  character  stood  so 
high  in  tlie  opinion  and  the  idolatrous  affections  of 
the  miserable  people  of  Scotland,  that  a  man  might 
more  safely  have  blasphemed  Jesus  Christ  than  derogate 
in  the  least  from  the  glory  of  his  perfections ;  people 
would  never  believe  he  was  to  introduce  bishops  till 
they  were  settled  in  their  seat."  ^ 

Whatever  earnestness  there  was  in  Charles  II. 's 
nature  seems  to  have  turned  against  the  Covenant 
and  that  religion  which,  as  Burnet  makes  him  say, 
was  "not  a  religion  for  a  gentleman."  He  knew 
what  it  was,  not  from  theological  study,  but  bitter 
experience.  In  the  days  of  his  misfortune  he  had 
been  subject  to  brief  periods  of  danger  and  privation; 
but  in  general  he  led  an  easy,  rakish,  and  luxurious 
life,  Avith  much  in  it  to  satisfy  the  desires  of  his 
nature.  Through  its  pleasant  vistas  his  dreary  abode 
at  Scone  seems  to  have  come  like  some  nightmare 
vision  of  horrors.  Yet  the  few  who  were  alike  zealous 
in  loyalty  and  in  Covenanting  faith  seem  to  have 
thought  that  with  this  odious  burden  on  his  memory, 
even  when  triumphant  in  the  homage  of  the  reactionary 
zeal  of  England,  he  was  to  come  forward  and  accept 
all  the  humiliating  tests  endured  by  him  at  Scone. 
It  is  strange  to  find  how  well  one  who  had  expected 
to  find  in  him  a  Covenanting  king,  and  was  disap- 
pointed, could  describe  the  motives  likely  to  turn  a 
king  like  Charles  towards  Episcopacy  rather  than  the 
Covenant :      "  He  knew  well  bishops  would  never  be 

>  Kirkton,  132, 


sharp's    negotiations,    1660-61.  397 

reprovers  of  the  Court,  and  the  first  article  of  their 
catechism  was  Non-resistance.  They  were  men  of  that 
discretion  as  to  dissemble  great  men's  faults,  and  not 
so  severe  as  the  Presbyterians.  They  were  the  best 
tools  for  tyranny  in  the  world  ;  for  do  a  king  what  he 
would,  their  daily  instruction  was  kings  could  do  no 
wrong,  and  that  none  might  put  forth  a  hand  against 
the  Lord's  anointed  and  be  innocent.  The  king  knew 
also  he  should  be  sure  of  their  vote  in  Parliament 
desire  what  he  would,  and  that  they  would  plant  a 
sort  of  ministers  which  might  instil  principles  of 
loyalty  into  the  people  till  they  turned  them  first 
slaves  and  then  beggars."  ^ 

When  the  Court  reached  London,  it  found  there  two 
ambassadors  sent  to  plead  the  cause  of  a  Presbyterian 
Establishment  for  Scotland.  The  natural  conclusion 
to  be  anticipated  from  the  conflicting  powers  was  a 
compromise.  If  there  were  on  the  one  hand  the  king 
and  his  favourites  eager  for  a  courtly  hierarchy,  there 
was  on  the  other  extreme  the  wild  remnant  in  the 
west.  The  moderate  men,  if  driven  to  extremities, 
must  make  common  cause  with  them;  and  that  inferred 
an  effort,  with  the  aid  of  the  English  remnant,  to 
re-establish  the  Covenant  over  the  three  kingdoms. 
From  such  an  alliance  and  crusade  the  moderate  party 
recoiled  with  tremors.  To  avoid  it  they  would  have 
given  up  much.  Then  it  would  not,  after  all,  be  a 
courtly  Prelacy  that  Scotland  would  possess,  unless 
the  attempts  on  the  old  Church  lands  were  renewed, 
and  that  was  not  in  the  calculation  of  chances.  The 
Scots  prelates,  whose  incomes  Avere  shaped  in  the 
curious  disputes  which  we  have  seen  in  King  James's 

1  Kirkton,  131,  132. 


398  CHARLES    II. 

reign,  would  be  poor  men  beside  the  Lords  Bishops  of 
England.  It  was  noticed  that  the  revenues  of  the  see 
of  Winchester  were  worth  more  than  those  of  all  the 
Scots  sees  collectively.^  The  result  of  these  conflict- 
ing forces,  had  they  been  left  to  free  action,  can  only 
be  matter  of  calculation,  for  the  end  was  otherwise 
decided.  The  Scots  Presbyterians  were  represented 
by  a  traitor  who  abandoned  all.  James  Sharp  was 
sent  to  London  as  an  ambassador  in  the  cause  of  a 
Presbyterian  polity,  and  he  returned  as  the  selected 
Archbishop  of  St  Andrews.  This  is  one  of  the  simple, 
and  to  a  certain  extent  satisfactory,  occasions  in  which 
it  is  hopeless  to  plead  honest  conviction. 

Sharp  went  to  London  as  the  ambassador  of  the 
Broad  or  Kesolution  party  in  the  Church ;  he  was  to 
treat  with  ]\lonk  and  with  whatever  party  he  might 
find  in  power.  He  had,  as  we  have  seen,  represented 
this  party  at  the  Court  of  the  Protectorate,  where 
it  was  thought  that  the  Pv,emonstrants  were  unduly 
favoured,  and  had  gained  a  character  among  the  public 
men  of  the  age  as  one  endowed  with  tact  and  good 
practical  sense.  His  instructions  bear  date  6th  Feb- 
ruary 1660.  They  refer  in  some  measure  to  practical 
details,  such  as  "a  commission  for  settling  and  aug- 
menting of  ministers'  stipends."  His  primary  instruc- 
tion was  :  "You  are  to  use  your  utmost  endeavours  that 
the  Kirk  of  Scotland  may,  without  interruption  or 
encroachment,  enjoy  the  freedom  and  privileges  of  her 
established  judicatories  ratified  by  the  laws  of  the  land." 
Of  the  subsidiary  instructions,  one,  when  read  by  the 
events  preceding  and  those  following  on  it,  is  suggestive 
of  reflection  :    "  Whereas,  by  the  lax  toleration  which 

1  Wodrow,  i.  2.35. 


sharp's    negotiations,    1660-61.  399 

is  established,  a  door  is  opened  to  a  very  many  gross 
errors  and  loose  practices  in  this  Church ;  you  shall 
therefore  use  all  lawful  and  provident  means  to  re- 
present the  sinfulness  and  ofFensiveness  thereof,  that 
it  may  be  timeously  remedied."^  This  one  direction 
Sharp  may  be  said  to  have  followed  to  the  letter,  but 
scarcely  in  the  spirit  intended  by  his  instructors. 

Robert  Douglas  was  appointed  his  colleague,  to  join 
him  in  London  if  necessary ;  but  Sharp  found  that 
the  essential  parts  of  the  business  had  better  be  con- 
ducted by  himself  alone.  By  ]\Ionk's  suggestion  he 
went  to  the  Court  at  Breda,  and  had  interviews  with 
the  new  king  before  he  crossed  the  Channel.  His 
correspondence  at  the  time,  especially  that  with 
Douglas,  has  been  preserved.  It  is  a  bulky  collection, 
and  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  letters  with  fewer 
ostensible  attractions ;  but  when  we  read  them  by  the 
light  of  after-events,  it  is  interesting  to  trace  through 
them  some  faint  vestiges  of  the  workings  on  the 
emissary's  mind.  The  first  distinct  utterance  is  a 
caution  not  to  demand  too  much — not  to  attempt  to 
force  the  Covenant  on  England  and  Ireland :  "  Pres- 
byterians here  are  few,  and  all  are  Englishmen,  and 
these  will  not  endure  us  to  do  anything  that  may 
carry  a  resemblance  in  pressing  uniformity.  I  shall 
not  be  accessary  to  anything  prejudicial  to  the  Pres- 
byterian government ;  but  to  appear  for  it  in  any 
other  way  than  is  within  my  sphere  is  inconvenient, 
and  may  do  harm  and  not  good."  Again  :  "For  me 
to  press  uniformity  for  discipline  and  government 
upon  the  king  and  others,  I  find,  would  be  a  most  dis- 
gustful employment  and  successless  ;  for  although  the 

^  Wodrow,  i.  5. 


400  CHARLES    II. 

king  could  be  indvicecl  to  be  for  it,  it  were  not  in  his 
power  to  effectuate  it,  the  two  Houses  of  Parliament 
and  body  of  this  nation  being  against  it ;  and  if  I  speak 
what  I  know  and  can  demonstrate  to  you,  'tis  already 
past  remedying." 

All  this  carries  an  air  of  sense  and  modesty.  Tak- 
ing by  deduction  from  the  event  an  evil  view  of  it,  it 
might  seem  a  modification  of  his  claim  in  order  that 
the  remainder  might  be  bought  up.  The  man  taking 
his  stand  on  the  Covenant  as  absolute  righteousness, 
which  all  the  three  kingdoms  must  profess,  presents  a 
more  formidable  obstacle  to  the  seducer  than  he  who 
merely  claims  for  himself  and  his  friends  an  exemption 
from  the  general  rule.  But  on  the  other  hand  it  might 
be  said,  that  if  he  then  had  the  design  of  making  the 
Covenant  odious  in  England,  arrogant  and  excessive 
demands  were  the  way  to  accomplish  his  end. 

On  his  return  to  London  we  find  him  from  time  to 
time  disturbed  in  spirit  by  symptoms  of  the  prevalence 
of  Episcopacy  :  "  A  knowing  minister  told  me  this 
day  that  if  a  synod  should  be  called  by  the  plurality 
of  incumbents,  they  would  infallibly  carry  Episcopacy. 
There  are  many  nominal,  few  real,  Presbyterians.  The 
cassock-men  do  swarm  here,  and  such  as  seemed  before 
for  Presbytery  would  be  content  of  a  moderate  Epis- 
copacy. We  must  leave  this  in  the  Lord's  hand,  who 
may  be  pleased  to  preserve  to  us  what  He  hath 
wrought  for  us."  Again  :  "  I  pray  the  Lord  keep 
them  from  the  Service-book  and  Prelacy.  If  the 
king  should  be  determined  in  matters  of  religion  by 
the  advice  of  the  two  Houses,  'tis  feared  that  Covenant 
engagements  shall  not  be  much  regarded.  All  sober 
men   depend  more  upon   the  king's   moderation  and 


sharp's  negotiations,  1660-61.  401 

condescension  than  what  can  be  expected  from  others. 
The  Episcopalians  drive  so  furiously  that  all  lovers 
of  religion  are  awakened  to  look  about  them,  and  to 
endeavour  the  stemming  of  that  feared  impetuousness 
of  these  men.  All  that  is  hoped  is  to  bring  them  to 
some  moderation  and  closure  with  an  Episcopacy  of  a 
new  make."  "  I  see  generally  the  cassock-men  appear- 
ing everywhere  boldly,  the  Liturgy  in  many  places 
setting  up.  The  service  in  the  chapel  at  Whitehall  is 
to  be  set  up  with  organs  and  choristers,  as  formerly." 
Was  all  this  to  prepare  people  for  a  coming  phenome- 
non—  a  torrent  of  Prelacy  so  powerful  that,  unable 
to  resist  it,  he  is  soon  carried  away  by  it  ? 

As  he  writes,  the  torrent  gains  strength  :  "  The 
course  of  Prelacy  is  carrying  on  without  opposition, 
so  that  they  who  were  for  the  moderation  thereof 
apprehend  they  have  lost  their  game.  No  man  knows 
what  the  overdriving  will  come  to.  The  Parliament 
complain  of  his  majesty's  moderation,  and  that  he 
does  not  press  the  settling  all  stent  ante.  God  only 
knows  what  temptations  and  trials  are  abiding  us. 
I  have  made  such  use  of  your  papers  as  is  possible. 
You  stand  exonered  as  to  any  compliance  with  the 
times,  or  betraying  the  common  cause  by  your  silence, 
in  the  judgment  of  all  to  whom  I  have  communicate 
what  you  have  ordered  me  to  do.  Our  task  is  to  wait 
upon  God,  who  hath  done  great  things  we  looked  not 
for,  and  can  make  these  mountains  plains." 

One  thing  evidently  disturbed  him  personally  during 
this  ruin  to  the  cause.  Douglas  spoke  of  coming  to 
help  him.  That  must  be  prevented.  He  wrote  that 
he  was  "tossed  in  his  thoughts  about  it."  In  one 
light  it  might    do   good ;    but,   on  the    other  hand, 

VOL.  VII.  2  c 


402  CHARLES    II. 

when  he  reflects  what  a  jealous  eye  the  Prelatical 
party,  who  bear  him  no  goodwill,  wUl  have  on  him 
and  his  carriage,  he  is  recommended  to  forbear.  "  I 
know,"  he  says,  "  you  are  not  caj)able  of  being  tickled 
by  the  desire  of  seeing  the  grandeur  of  a  court,  and 
you  would  soon  tire  were  you  here  ;  and  the  toil  and 
charge  of  coming  hither  and  returning  in  so  short  a 
time — it  being  necessary  you  be  at  home  against  the 
sitting  of  the  Parliament — will  be,  in  my  apprehension, 
much  more  than  any  good  can  be  done  at  this  time." 
No — on  the  whole,  he  had  better  not  come  at  present ; 
but  he  is  told  that  "when  matters  come  to  a  gTeater 
ripeness  two  or  three  months  hence,  your  coming  may 
be  of  more  use  and  satisfaction  to  yourself  and  advan- 
tage to  the  public."  Sharp  was  threatened  with  a  still 
more  formidable  visitation.  A  committee  of  his  most 
zealous  and  able  brethren  proposed  to  join  him.  He 
met  this  boldly.  The  king  did  not  desire  to  see  them 
then  in  the  pressure  of  his  English  affairs,  and  their 
coming  would  prejudice  the  cause — when  his  majesty 
desired  their  attendance  he  would  send  for  them. 

The  next  quotation  touches  on  perilous  groimd  : 
"  Our  noblemen  and  others  here  keep  yet  in  a  fair 
way  of  seeming  accord ;  but  I  find  a  high,  loose  spirit 
appearing  in  some  of  them,  and  I  hear  they  talk  of 
bringing  in  Episcopacy  into  Scotland,  Avhich  I  trust 
they  shall  never  be  able  to  effect.  I  am  much  sad- 
dened and  wearied  out  with  what  I  hear  and  see. 
Some  leading  Presbyterians  tell  me  they  must  resolve 
to  close  in  with  what  they  call  moderate  Episcopacy, 
else  open  profanity  will  upon  the  one  hand  overwhelm 
them ;  or  Erastianism — which  may  be  the  design  of 
some  statesmen — on  the  other." 


sharp's  negotiations,  1660-61.  403 

This  is  early  in  June  1660.     On  the  16th  he  comes 
again  on  the  impolicy  of  pressing  the  Covenant  on 
England,  and.tm-ns  into  little  windings  of  thought 
and  argument,  such  as  a  mind  conscious  of  treachery 
might  follow :     "  Under  correction  I  apprehend  our 
doing  of  that  which  may  savour  of  meddling  or  inter- 
posing in  those  matters  here  will  exceedingly  prejudice 
us,  both  as  to  our  civil  liberty  and  settlement  of  reli- 
gion.    It  is  obvious  how  much  the  manner  of  settling 
religion  here  may  influence  the  disturbing  and  endan- 
gering of  our  Establishment ;   yet,  Providence  having 
included  us  under  a  moral  impossibility  of  preventing 
this  evil — if  upon  a  remote  fear  of  hazard  to  our  reli- 
gious interests  we  shall  do  that  which  will  provoke 
and  exasperate  those  who  wait  for  an  opportunity 
of  a  pretext  to  overturn  what   the  Lord  hath  built 
amongst   us,  who   knows  what   sad    effects   it   may 
have  ?     The  present  posture  of  affairs  looks  like  a  ship 
foundered  with  the  waves  from  all  corners,  so  that 
it  is  not  known  what  course  will  be  steered.     But 
discerning  men  see  that  the  gale  is  like  to  blow  for 
the  Prelatic   party ;    and  those  who   are    sober  will 
yield  to  a  liturgy  and  moderate  Episcopacy — which 
they  phrase  to  be  effectual  Presbytery — and  by  this 
salvo  they  think  they  guard  against  breach  of  Cove- 
nant.    I  know  this  purpose  is  not  pleasing  to  you, 
neither  to  me."     He  maintains,  somewhat  circuitously 
and  dubiously,  that  while  abstaining  from  interference 
with  English  affairs,  he  has  been  very  careful  to  avoid 
committing  himself  or  his  brethren  to  their  tenor,  or 
to  anything  that  might  imply  a  doubt  on  their  "  firm 
adherence  to  the  Covenant."     He  announces  that  the 
king  has  fixed  a  day  for  considering  the  affairs  of 


404  CHARLES    II. 

Scotland,  and  moralises  on  the  occasion  :  "The  Lord 
fit  us  for  future  trials,  and  establish  us  in  His  way." 
On  the  19th  he  imparts,  though  with  a  touch  of  hesi- 
tation, hopes  which  he  knew  to  be  false  :  "  I  hope 
this  week  to  have  his  majesty's  letter  signifying  his 
resolution  to  preserve  the  established  doctrine,  wor- 
ship, discipline,  and  government  of  our  Kirk,  and  that 
we  shall  have  a  General  Assembly — and  then  I  shall 
come  home  with  your  leave." 

A  memorable  passage  in  a  State  paper,  of  which 
Sharp  was  the  bearer,  afterwards  gave  significance  to 
tlie  words  used  by  him  on  this  occasion.  In  express- 
ing his  hopes  about  the  tenor  of  the  king's  letter,  he 
did  not  say  it  was  to  ratify  the  Presbyterian  Kirk 
government  by  General  Assemblies,  synods,  and  presby- 
teries, though  he  took  care  to  make  it  be  believed  that 
such  was  his  own  personal  hope.  His  carefully-chosen 
words  of  anticipation  were  to  "  preserve  the  established 
worship,  discipline,  and  government."  This  letter  was 
dated  on  the  19th  of  June.  The  State  paper  by  which 
it  came  afterwards  to  be  interpreted  was  dated  on  the 
10th  of  August.  He  continues  in  the  same  letter:  "  If 
we  knew  how  little  our  interests  are  regarded  by  the 
most  part  here,  we  would  not  much  concern  ourselves 
in  theirs.  If  we  cannot  prevent  the  course  taken  here, 
we  are  to  trust  God  with  the  preservation  of  what  He 
hath  wrought  to  us."  "Although  we  want  not  our 
fears,  let  us  procure  what  is  wanting  by  prayer,  and 
not  dwell  too  much  on  fear  lest  we  sour  our  spirits." 
He  would  rather  that  his  brethren  worked  by  prayer 
than  by  another  of  their  functions.  That  things  dis- 
agreeable were  said  in  sermons  may  be  inferred  from 
this  hint :  "  If  the  accounts  here  of  expressions  min- 


sharp's  negotiations,  1660-61.  405 

isters  use  in  their  pulpits  be  true,  I  wish  ministers 
would  moderate  their  passions  at  such  a  time." 

While  all  these  things  were  written,  Sharp  was 
virtually  Primate  of  Scotland  and  Archbishop  of  St 
Andrews.  It  was  believed,  indeed,  that  the  bargain 
Avas  struck  at  once  when  he  arrived  at  Breda.  Enough, 
perhaps,  has  been  drawn  out  of  his  perfidious  corre- 
spondence ;  but  it  may  complete  this  self-drawn  pic- 
ture of  duplicity  to  add  that  one  passage  from  his 
letters  that  would  have  been  the  most  likely  to  excite 
suspicion  :  "I  engage  in  no  party  while  I  am  here, 
that  I  may  see  how  the  wheels  move.  There  is  a 
necessity  I  get  and  keep  acquaintance  with  the  Epis- 
copal party  as  well  as  Presbyterians,  and  with  those 
about  Court  who  manage  the  king's  affairs,  though 
they  be  no  friends  to  Presbyterians,  though  I  be 
hereby  exposed  to  the  construction  of  men.  I  am 
confident  the  king  hath  no  purpose  to  wrong  our 
Church  in  her  settlement ;  my  greatest  fear  is  their 
introducing  Erastianism." 

Douglas,  his  colleague,  though  believed  to  be  a 
great  clerical  statesman,  suspected  nothing.  On  the 
occasion  when  Sharp  afterwards  went  up  to  London 
for  ordination — "that  the  Presbyterian  stamp  might 
be  abolished  and  a  new  Prelatical  stamp  taken  on  " — 
Douglas  tells  us,  with  a  natural  bitterness :  "  Sharp 
came  to  me  before  he  went  to  London,  and  I  told  him 
the  curse  of  God  would  be  on  him  for  his  treacherous 
dealing  ;  and  that  I  may  speak  my  heart  of  this  man, 
I  profess  I  did  no  more  suspect  him  in  reference  to 
Prelacy  than  I  did  myself"^ 

'  Wodrow,  i.  228.  Douglas  is  the  minister  formerly  mentioned  as 
the  reputed  grandson  of  Queen  Mary.     Wodrow  preserved  for  his  own 


4o6  CHARLES    II. 

Shai-p  returned  to  Scotland  with  a  royal  letter  to 
his  constituents,  commending  "  his  good  services,"  and 
his  faithful  account  of  the  state  of  the  Church  and  the 
loyalty  and  good  carriage  of  his  ministers.  It  inti- 
mated the  royal  resolution  "to  discountenance  pro- 

]jrivate  use  the  follo^ving  memorandmn  about  him :  He  "  was,  as  I 
hear,  a  minister  in  Gustavus  Adolphus'  army,  and  then  lie  got  the  most 
part  of  all  the  Bible  in  his  memory,  having  almost  no  other  Ijook  to  read; 
so  that  he  was  a  man  mighty  in  the  Scriptures.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
authority  and  boldness.  There  was  a  godly  learned  minister — viz.,  Mr 
Tullidafif — said  to  me  he  could  never  look  to  Mr  Robert  Douglas  but  he 
really  stood  in  awe  of  him  ;  and  he  said  so  of  worthy  Mr  Robert  Blair, 
that  he  thought  there  was  a  great  majesty  and  authority  appearing  in 
both  these  men's  faces,  that  he  could  not  take  a  look  of  them  but  he 
really  stood  in  awe  of  them.  It's  reported  that  Gustavus  said  of  Mr 
Douglas,  when  he  was  going  to  leave  him,  '  There  [is]  a  man  who,  for 
wisdom  and  prudence,  might  be  a  counsellor  to  any  king  in  Europe  ; 
he  might  be  a  moderator  to  any  Assembly  in  the  world;  and  he  might 
be  a  general  to  conduct  my  army,  for  his  skill  in  military  affairs.' 
When  some  were  speaking  to  him  about  the  ceremonies  of  England,  Mr 
Douglas  said  that  'the  bishop  was  the  greatest  ceremony  of  them  all.' 
If  he  would  have  complied,  there  would  no  man  been  Archbishop  of  St 
Andrews  before  Mr  Douglas.  They  repoit  that  he  said  to  Jlr  Sharp, 
'  If  my  conscience  had  been  as  yours,  I  could  have  been  Archbishop  of 
St  Andrews  before  you.'  It's  .said,  when  a  great  person  was  pressing 
him  to  be  Primate  of  Scotland,  to  put  him  off  effectually  he  answered, 
'  I  will  never  be  Archbishop  of  St  Andrews  unless  I  be  Chancellor  of 
Scotland  also,  as  some  were  before  me,'  which  made  the  great  man 
speak  no  more  to  him  about  that  affair.  There  was  a  minister  said  to 
me  that  Mr  Douglas  was  a  great  State  preacher — one  of  the  greatest  we 
had  in  Scotland — for  he  feared  no  man  to  declare  the  mind  of  God  to 
him  ;  yet  he  was  very  acce.ssible,  and  easy  to  be  conversed  with.  Unless 
a  man  were  for  God,  he  had  no  value  for  him,  let  him  be  never  so  great 
or  noble." — Analecta,  iii.  82,  83. 

Burnet  says  :  "  There  appeared  an  air  of  greatness  in  him,  that  made 
all  that  saw  him  inclined  enough  to  believe  he  was  of  no  ordinary  de- 
scent. He  was  a  reserved  man.  He  had  the  Scriptures  by  heart  to  the 
exactness  of  a  Jew,  for  he  was  as  a  concordance.  He  was  too  calm  and 
too  grave  for  the  furious  men,  but  yet  he  was  much  depended  on  for  his 
prudence.  I  knew  him  in  his  old  age,  and  saw  plainly  he  was  a  slave 
to  his  popularity,  and  durst  not  own  the  free  thoughts  he  had  of  some 
things  for  fear  of  offending  the  people." — Summary  of  Affairs  before  the 
Restoration. 


sharp's  negotiations,  1660-61.  407 

fanity  and  all  contemners  and  opposers  of  the  ordi- 
nances of  the  Gospel."  Then  follows  a  memorable 
passage,  drawn  with  a  subtle  purpose :  "  We  do  also 
resolve  to  protect  and  preserve  the  government  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland  as  it  is  settled  by  law  without 
violation ;  and  to  countenance  in  the  due  exercise  of 
their  functions  all  such  ministers  w^ho  shall  behave 
themselves  dutifully  and  peaceably,  as  becomes  men 
of  their  calling."  ^  The  coincidence  of  this  with 
Sharp's  anticipation  has  not  its  full  significance  until 
an  inner  meaning  afterwards  comes  forth. 

Of  his  brief  sojourn  in  his  native  land,  under  the 
scrutiny  of  keen  eyes  gradually  becoming  suspicious, 
he  has  left  ample  traces  in  his  own  letters.  For  a  key 
to  these  we  must  forecast  the  man's  nature  as  it  after- 
wards came  out  in  his  political  life.  It  was  that  of  a 
dexterous  experienced  man  of  affairs  ;  but  also  of  a  man 
of  desperate  resolutions,  endowed  with  a  wary,  subtle 
intellect  for  their  execution,  and  all  supported  by  a 
daring  and  determined  temperament.  In  the  thick 
of  the  dangerous  political  contest  which  he  courted  he 
had  often  to  fight  alone,  with  no  counsel  or  support 
save  from  his  own  politic  brain.  Such  was  the  man 
who  set  himself  to  write  long  letters  to  his  brethren 
of  the  clergy — letters  that  read  like  the  weariful 
wailings  of  a  disappointed  man  who  pours  into  any 
ear  that  will  receive  it  the  story  of  his  wrongs  and 
woes,  and  bitterness  of  spirit,  and  determination  to 
abandon  the  world  with  its  vanities  and  deceptions, 
and  find  solace  in  obscurity  aud  solitude.  Then  he  is 
bereft  of  all  sympathy  in  his  distress;  yea — keener 
suffering  still — he  is  absolutely  suspected.     He  sees, 

1  Wodrow,  i.  80. 


4o8  CHARLES    II. 

with  all  others,  that  the  calamity  he  has  done  his  best 
to  defeat  is  coming;  but  instead  of  an  object  of  sus- 
picion, he  should  be  an  object  of  special  compassion  ; 
for  is  not  he  the  greatest  sufferer  of  all,  since  by  giving 
his  services  to  the  common  cause  he  had  made  it 
especially  his  own  1  The  whole  of  his  lamentation, 
too,  is  amply  seasoned  with  ejaculations  of  piety,  a 
weakness  from  which  Burnet  tells  us  that  Sharp,  in 
his  communications  with  the  companions  of  his 
Prelatic  life,  was  peculiarly  exempt. 

A  man  of  mere  ordinary  selfish  temperament,  yield- 
ing to  the  pressure  of  fortune,  and  preparing  himself 
to  accept  the  Avinning  side  in  such  a  contest,  does 
not  take  this  tone.  His  resource  is  generally  a  surly 
silence  ;  and  if  he  is  active,  it  is  in  preparing  the  way 
for  desertion  by  gradually  letting  it  come  forth  that  he 
has  got  new  lights,  and  found  reason  to  doubt  whether 
the  cause  hitherto  maintained  by  him  is  the  right 
one.  But  it  is  clear  that  Sharp  had  not  to  take  the 
mere  passive  attitude  of  yielding  to  events.  He  had 
to  give  material  help  in  shaping  them.  The  project 
on  hand  was  perilous.  Its  success  depended  on  dex- 
terous and  dangerous  tactics  which  might  any  moment 
be  overturned  ;  for  Charles  11.  was  not  a  man  like  his 
father,  on  whom  a  servant  such  as  Laud  could  place 
absolute  reliance.  In  short,  it  was  the  case  of  a  leader 
betraying  his  camp  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  who, 
to  conceal  his  purpose  from  his  brethren,  required  all 
his  power  of  dexterity  and  cunning.  It  is  observable 
that  in  these  communings  he  reserves  what  might  be 
considered  a  point  of  refuge,  whence  he  could  possibly 
maintain  a  lAea  for  consistency  ;  but  it  was  one  so  far 
out  of  the  question  on  hand  that  it   might   escape 


sharp's  negotiations,  1660-61.  409 

observation.  He  ever  speaks  of  himself  as  in  the 
hands  of  the  king,  and  bound  without  reserve  im- 
plicitly to  obey  the  command  so  laid  upon  him.  In 
giving  effect  to  this  spirit  he  holds  by  Lauderdale  as 
his  immediate  leader  and  "  very  good  lord,"  in  whose 
fortunes  his  were  embarked.  This  conjunction  will 
find  a  special  significance  when  Lauderdale  reveals 
to  us  his  own  policy.  JMeanwhile,  he  who  was  be- 
lieved to  rule  the  king's  mind  in  Scots  affairs,  was 
a  Covenanter  who  had  undergone  sufferings  for  the 
cause. 

On  the  12th  of  January  1661,  among  the  earliest  of 
these  vindicatory  and  supplicatory  epistles,  he  says  : 
"If  I  stand  right  in  my  noble  and  dearest  lord's  opin- 
ion, in  which  I  trust  my  integrity  shall  preserve  me, 
I  shall  make  small  reckoning-  of  the  blasting  from  the 
tongues  which  folly  and  perverseness  have  and  do 
still  design  against  me.  You  know  I  have  been  alone 
upon  the  stage,  and  therefore  cannot  escape  the  con- 
versings  of  persons  as  they  are  variously  affected  and 
interested.  My  surest  fence  is  in  God,  who  knoweth 
that  my  regard  to  the  interest  of  my  country  and  this 
Kirk  doth  prejudice  my  selfish  considerations." 

On  the  26th  he  introduces  his  grief  with  a  touch  of 
decorous  modesty  :  "  I  do  not  inquire  of  business — 
when  I  am  asked  I  tell  my  judgment.  Once  a-day  I 
go  to  the  abbey,  officiate  at  my  Lord  Commissioner 
his  table,  which  I  have  done  upon  his  invitation,  as  I 
wrote  to  you  formerly ;  he  uses  me  civilly.  By  any- 
thing I  can  yet  perceive  amongst  them,  I  can  find  no 
design  to  alter  our  Church  government ;  and  though 
they  had  it,  I  do  not  see  how  it  can  be  effectuate. 
Some  discontented,  and  others  who  have  nothing  else 


4IO  CHARLES    II. 

to  do  but  to  frame  conjectures  and  sjDread  tliem,  talk 
and  write  what  they  fancy.  No  man  nor  action 
escapes  their  teasing  tongues.  I  want  not  my  own 
share  of  that  happiness.  AVhether  my  preferment  to 
he  the  only  minister  who  attends  the  Court  doth  make 
me  the  subject  of  people's  talk,  the  object  of  envy 
from  others,  I  know  not ;  but  I  am  sure  my  employ- 
ment nor  fate  are  not  very  pleasant  to  me." 

On  the  31st  he  becomes  more  energetic  about  the 
malice,  folly,  and  calumny  of  which  he  is  the  victim  : 
"  I  see  no  fence  for  me  but  patience  under  the  hand  of 
God,  who  sees  it  fit  to  put  me  to  such  an  afflicting  exer- 
cise ;  and  contempt  against  what  the  ill-minded  and 
factious  can  do  against  me,  which  the  Lord,  I  bless 
Him,  is  pleased  in  some  measure  to  vouchsafe  upon 
me.     And  I  think  I  could  not  have  that  patience  and 
untroubledness  if  my   conscience   did    accuse   me   of 
what  malicious  folly  would  fix  upon  me.     I  have  been 
formerly  represented  as  if  I  had  engaged  while  I  was 
in  London  to  introduce  Episcopacy  into  this  Church, 
and  now  I  am  reputed  to  be  an  apostate  Covenanter. 
Sure  the  next  Avill  be  that  I  am  turned  fanatic  and 
enemy  to  the  king." 

The  next  two  passages  are  extracted  from  a  long 
letter  dated  on  the  19th  of  March  :  "  I  had  no  designs 
but  the  service  of  others  more  than  myself  I  thank 
God  disturbing  hopes  and  fears  do  not  discompose  me, 
nor  is  my  judgment  perverted  by  aff"ection  or  interest. 
I  do  chain  my  affection  and  desire  to  that  stream  of 
Providence  which  may  make  it  be  well  with  the  king 
and  your  master,  my  lord.  I  am  no  fanatic,  nor  a 
lover  of  their  Avay  under  whatsoever  refined  form  ;  yet 
of  late  I  have  received  a  different  light  as  to  the  king's 


sharp's    negotiations,    l66o-6r.  411 

judgment  as  to  our  Church  than  I  found  when  I 
parted  from  Whitehall.  This  may  be  a  riddle  to  you, 
but  to  open  more  in  this  way  I  cannot.  I  tell  you  it 
is,  and  hath  struck  me  with  amazement — our  evil  is 
from  those  with  you.  I  cannot  exempt  some  among 
ourselves,  of  whom  I  am  not  one.  The  only  wise  God 
knoweth  what ;  but  for  anything  yet  appearing  to 
me,  I  cannot  see  how  this  current  shall  be  stemmed, 
and  this  Church  kept  upon  the  bottom  it  stands. 
Although  you  like  not  my  desire  to  retire  now,  yet 
pardon  me  to  differ  from  you  in  my  resolution  not  to 
meddle  any  more  in  these  stormy  and  bespattering 
entanglements.  If  men  will  not  regard  my  credit 
and  peace,  I  must  look  to  myself.  The  severity  of  the 
sentence  of  a  crashed  credit  and  prostituted  conscience 
I  do  not  fear  from  men  of  credit  and  conscience.  I 
have  not  stepped  awry  ;  my  uprightness  will  answer 
for  me  when  this  dust  of  jealousies,  disappointments, 
fiddlings,  and  clamourings  is  over. 

"  God  help  us  when  we  see  that  the  concernments  of 
the  Gospel  of  the  Church  and  ministry  must  be  hurled 
at  the  heels  of  the  interests  of  men  designing  nothing 
but  greatness,  and  taking  advantage  from  the  divi- 
sions, unstableness,  insignificance  of  ministers.  For 
my  part,  if,  after  long  contest  with  men  of  Avhich  it 
is  time  to  be  wearied,  I  cannot  have  leave  to  retire 
among  my  books,  and  bewail  the  evils  which  the  folly 
and  self-seeking  of  men  are  bringing  upon  my  country, 
I  must  think  de  mutando  solo,  and  breathing  of  an 
air  where  I  may  be  without  the  reach  of  the  noise  and 
pressure  of  the  confusions  coming,  which  I  had  rather 
hear  of  than  be  witness  to,  and  for  the  preventing  of 
which  I  have  not  been  wanting  in  the  using  of  those 


412  CHARLES    II. 

means  which  to  the  best  of  my  understanding  seemed 
probable." 

The  next  is  a  short  but  expressive  passage  from  a 
letter  of  the  15th  of  April,  when  he  is  drawing  nearer 
to  his  reward,  and  also  his  relief  from  his  laborious 
game,  for  that  it  was  laborious  the  enormous  length 
of  his  letters  shows  us :  "I  do  appeal  to  the  con- 
tinued tenor  of  my  actions,  which  witness  for  me 
in  the  judgment  of  all  impartial  and  unbiassed  ob- 
servers ;  and  I  can  with  patience  and  hope  commit 
myself,  my  credit,  conscience,  and  what  else  is  ex- 
pressed that  doth  concern,  into  the  hands  of  my 
faithful  Creator,  who  knows  my  way,  and  will  bring 
my  integrity  to  light."  ^ 

This  feat  of  turpitude  has  a  finish  and  completeness 
often  to  be  found  in  hostile  accusations,  but  rarely 
exemplified  in  real  life.  It  is  a  tale  not  to  have  been 
accepted  on  any  authority  but  for  the  support  afl^'orded 
by  the  man  himself.  If  it  be  asked  why  he  should 
have  strewed  around  him  these  vestiges  of  bad  repute, 
the  answer  is,  that  he  did  so  to  secure  something  in 
his  esteem  far  more  valuable  than  an  honest  name. 

Among  men  inclined  to  moderate  views  there  has 
been  a  disinclination  to  believe  in  Sharp's  perfidy, 
because  it  makes  one  of  the  picturesque  sketches  in 
Burnet's  History.     But  in  this  instance  Burnet's  brief 

1  These  passages  are  from  the  Lauderdale  manuscripts  in  the  British 
Museum,  the  contents  of  which  were  made  easily  accessible  to  the  author 
through  a  transcript  kindly  put  at  his  disposal  by  Mr  Douglas,  the  editor 
of  the  '  North  British  Review.'  The  letters,  on  their  own  individual 
merits,  either  as  morsels  of  literature  or  as  a  general  reflection  of  the 
times,  would  be  pronounced  valueless,  and  even  repulsive,  but  for  the 
interpretation  they  afford  of  things  beyond  their  own  tenor.  To  have 
been  collected  and  carefully  preserved  by  such  a  man  as  Lauderdale, 
they  must  have  been  considered  of  consequence  as  State  papers. 


sharp's  negotiations,  1660-61.  413 

estimate  appears  to  me  to  give  with  as  mucli  accuracy 
as  animation  the  spirit  slumbering  in  the  bulky- 
correspondence  here  referred  to.  Burnet's  words  are  : 
"As  he  had  observed  very  carefully  Monk's  solemn 
protestations  against  the  king  and  for  the  Common- 
wealth, it  seems  he  was  so  pleased  with  the  original 
that  he  resolved  to  copy  after  it,  without  letting  him- 
self be  diverted  from  it  by  scruples ;  for  he  stuck 
neither  at  solemn  protestations,  both  by  word  of 
mouth  and  by  letters  (of  which  I  have  seen  many 
proofs),  nor  of  appeals  to  God  of  his  sincerity  in  act- 
ing for  Presbytery,  both  in  prayers  and  on  other 
occasions,  joining  with  these  many  dreadful  impreca- 
tions on  himself  if  he  did  prevaricate.  He  was  all 
the  while  maintained  by  the  Presbyterians  as  their 
agent,  and  continued  to  give  them  a  constant  account 
of  the  progress  of  his  negotiation  in  their  service,  while 
he  was  indeed  undermining  it.  This  piece  of  craft 
was  so  visible,  he  having  repeated  his  protestations  to 
as  many  persons  as  then  grew  jealous  of  him,  that 
when  he  threw  off  the  mask  about  a  year  after  this, 
it  laid  a  foundation  of  such  a  character  of  him  that 
nothing  could  ever  bring  people  to  any  tolerable 
thoughts  of  a  man  whose  dissimulation  and  treachery 
were  so  well  known,  and  of  which  so  many  proofs 
were  to  be  seen  under  his  own  hand."^ 

'  It  is  biat  fair  to  the  memory  of  Sliarp  to  say  that  the  man  who,  by 
his  position  as  a  Churchman,  and  by  his  services  to  ecclesiastical  history, 
has  the  best  title  to  represent  the  Church  of  Scotland — the  Church 
wounded  by  the  event  which  was  prosperous  to  Sharp — has  deliberately, 
and  after  a  full  view  of  the  evidence,  declined  to  press  the  charge  of 
deliberate  turpitude.  He  thinks  that  Sharp  was  merely  a  seK-seeking 
man  who  took  the  winning  side  when  it  was  offered  to  him,  concluding : 
"  He  laboured,  as  it  appears  to  us,  honestly  for  its  establishment  at  the 
Restoration  so  long  as  there  was  any  hope  of  its  being  established.     He 


414  CHARLES    II. 

The  Estates  of  Parliament  were  to  meet  on  tlie 
first  day  of  the  year  1661.     It  had  been  for  a  short 
time   doubtful  whether   the   meeting   might   not  be 
subject  to  a  sense  of  degradation,  from  the  absence 
of   certain    decorations    appropriate   to    the    supreme 
legislature  of  Scotland.     They  were  merely  valuable 
chattels,  yet  were  objects   of  deep  national  homage. 
Immediately    on   the    Eestoration    came    a    question, 
— What  had  become   of  the  Honours  of  Scotland — 
of  the  crown,  the   sceptre,   and  the  sword  ?     It  was 
naturally  supposed  that  they   had  been  removed    to 
London.     They  were  not  there  ;  had  they,  then,  been 
destroyed,   as  part   of  the  plan   for  obliterating  the 
traditions  of  Scottish  nationality  "?     Another  rumour 
was  that  they  had  been  taken  abroad  ;  but,  to  the  in- 
finite delight  of  the  people,  it  was  announced  that  they 
were  safe  at  home.     But  their  escape  had  been  nar- 
row.    They  had  been  in  the  official  custody  of  the 
Earl  Marischal,  who  was  lord  of  Dunnottar,  one  of  the 
strongest  fortresses  in  Scotland.     Thither  they  were 
taken  on  Cromwell's  invasion.     But  as  one  strength 
fell  after  another,  and  Dumbarton  and  Dunnottar  only 
remained    untaken,   it  was    as  absolutely  certain   as 
human  events  can  be,  that  Dunnottar  would  not  long 
hold  against  Cromwell's  cannon.      Two  women — the 
wives,  one  of  the  commander,  the  other  of  the  minister 
of  the  neighbouring  parish  of  Kinneff — formed  and 
effected  a  plan   for    concealing   the   honours.      Mrs 
Granger,  the  minister's  wife,  carried  them  out  through 
the  besieging  army.     The  crown  lay  in  her  lap  ;  the 

only  abandoned  the  cause  when  it  was  hopeless.  This  was  not  the  part 
of  a  magnanimous  man — it  was  not  even  the  part  of  a  sensitively  hon- 
ovirable  or  scrupulous  man,  considering  the  part  that  he  had  acted." — 
North  British  Eeview,  vii.  455. 


PARLIAMENT,    l66r.  415 

sword  and  sceptre  seem  to  have  made  a  sort  of  dis- 
taff for  a  mass  of  lint  which,  like  a  thrifty  Scottish 
matron,  she  was  busily  spinning  into  thread.  The 
minister  buried  them  at  night  under  the  flags  of  his 
church,  and  in  that  remote  quiet  parish  church  they 
remained  in  entire  concealment.  As  it  Avas  necessary 
to  keep  the  secret  from  friends  as  well  as  enemies,  the 
public  had  a  pleasant  surprise  when  it  was  revealed.^ 

Scotland  was  less  fortunate  in  the  fate  of  another 
piece  of  property,  according  to  modern  notions  far 
more  valuable.  A  considerable  mass  of  the  national 
records  had  been  removed  to  London  during  the  Pro- 
tectorate. It  Avas  observed  that  after  the  arrival  of  the 
king  they  were  still  detained ;  and  this  was  coupled 
with  an  unpleasant  rumour,  that  Clarendon  had  recom- ' 
mended  the  king  to  keep  up  the  forts  built  by  Crom- 
well in  Scotland,  with  their  garrisons.  That  these 
chiefly  consisted  of  Englishmen  made  them  off'ensive  in 
Scotland ;  and,  as  Roundheads,  it  is  difBcult  to  suppose 
them  a  valuable  acquisition  to  the  new  Government. 
Yet  it  was  not  until  after  a  strong  remonstrance  from 
his  servants  in  Scotland  that  the  king  consented  to 
disband  them  and  dismantle  the  fortresses.  It  is  said 
that  the  reason  for  detaining  the  records  was  to 
discover  and  destroy  the  Covenant  signed  by  the 
king  if  it  could  be  found.  They  were  shipped  for 
Scotland  before  the  end  of  the  year  1661,  but  were 
lost  on  the  way  by  shipwreck. 

By  the  recovery  of  the  Regalia,  the  Estates  were 
thus  enabled  to  assemble  with  all  proper  pomp  and 
ceremony.  The  commissioner  was  not  selected,  ac- 
cordino-  to  former  practice,  from  the  heads  of  great 

'  Papers  relative  to  the  Regalia  of  Scotland,  Bannatyne  Club,  1829. 


4l6  CHARLES    II. 

houses ;  nor  was  lie,  like  Chancellor  Hyde  in  Eng- 
land, a  learned  lawyer  and  sagacious  statesman,  who 
might  be  counted  on  for  a  policy  prudent  and  far- 
sighted.  The  new  Lord  High  Commissioner  was 
John  Middleton,  a  soldier  of  fortune,  created  Earl 
of  Middleton  for  the  occasion.  He  had  literally 
risen  from  the  ranks.  Even  in  the  courteous  an- 
nouncements of  the  peerages  it  is  told  that  he  "  was 
a  pikeman  in  Hepburn's  regiment  in  France."  ^  He  has 
on  several  occasions  passed  before  us — lastly,  and  most 
conspicuously,  in  "  Glencairn's  expedition."  Along 
with  his  commission  to  represent  the  sovereign  in  the 
Estates,  he  was  invested  with  duties  more  appropriate 
to  his  career  as  a  dashing  soldier,  in  the  command  of 
the  forces  and  the  government  of  Edinburgh  Castle. 
Perhaps  it  was  a  good  selection,  since  the  work  to  be 
done  in  that  Parliament  required  one  accustomed 
rather  to  the  word  of  command  than  the  transaction 
of  business  in  committee. 

The  great  achievement  of  the  session  was  the  "  Act 
Eescissory."  It  "rescinded"  or  cut  off  from  the  body 
of  the  law  all  the  statutes  passed  in  the  Parliament 
of  1640  and  subsequently."  This  withdrew  from 
the  statute-book  all  legislation  later  than  the  year 
1633,  for  the  Parliament  of  1639  passed  no  statutes. 
Certainly  no  Act  of  the  Scots  Estates  had  ever  accom- 
plished so  much  as  this.  The  Estates  had  been  un- 
usually busy  in  these  cancelled  Parliaments,  and  gave 
forth  a  mighty  bulk  of  legislation,  in  which  the  Acts 
affecting  the  large  questions  in  civil  and  ecclesiastical 

^  Douglas,  by  Wood,  ii.  231. 

"  Act  rescinding  and  annulling  the  pretended  Parliaments  in  tlie  years 
1640,  1641,  &c. 


ACT    RESCISSORY,    1661.  417 

politics  were  but  of  small  bulk ;  but  it  was  thought 
well  to  seize  the  opportunity  and  cast  away  the  whole, 
leaving  it  to  the  diligence  of  succeeding  Parliaments 
to  restore  all   that   related  to  the    administration  of 
civil  and  criminal  justice,  to  commercial  legislation, 
taxation,    coinage,    social    institutions,    and    all    the 
complex  elements  of  the  legislation  of  the  seventeenth 
century.      It  was  a  partial    realisation  of  the  wish 
imagined  by  Wordsworth  for  Rob  Eoy  the  outlaw — 
"  Burn  all  the  statutes  and  their  shelves."      It  is  a 
short  Act,  and  yet  in  its  brevity  a  piece  of  slovenly 
legislative  work.     The  Acts  thrown  away  are  neither 
admitted  to  be  valid  Acts  of  Parliament  which  should 
be  repealed,  nor  are  they  declared  to  be  null  as  having 
been  illegally  passed;  but  they  are  spoken  of  as  invalid, 
and  yet  are  repealed.   We  have  evidence  of  the  hurried 
preparation  and  passing  of  the  measure.    The  practice 
of  passing  Acts  of  Parliament  in  this  reign  was  not  to 
bring  in  bills  and  pass  them  amended  or  otherwise, 
but  to  leave  the  Lord  Clerk  Register  to  put  the  Act 
in  shape  after  its  substance  was  adopted.     That  high 
officer,  indeed,  had  the  chief  work  of  every  measure, 
and  could  expedite  or  retard  it  as  he  chose.     We  find 
Middleton  writing  to  Primrose,  who  was  then  Clerk 
Register  :  "  The  Act  that  is  now  before  you  is  of  the 
greatest  consequence  imaginable,  and  is  like  to  meet 
with  many  difiiculties    if   not  speedily  gone   about. 
Petitions  are  preparing,  and  if  the  thing  were  done  it 
would  dash  all  these  bustling  oppositions."  Then  after 
promises  of  substantial  gratitude  if  it  is  done  :  "  Now 
I  am  more  concerned  in  this  than  I  was  ever  in  a 
particular.     The  speedy  doing  is  the  thing  I  propose 
as  the  great  advantage,  if  it  be  possible  to  prepare  it 
VOL.  VII.  2  D 


4l8  CHARLES    II. 

to  be  presented  to-morrow  by  ten  o'clock  in  the  fore- 
noon to  the  Articles,  that  it  may  be  brought  into  the 
Parliament  to-morrow  in  the  afternoon.  The  reason  of 
this  haste  shall  be  made  known  to  you  at  meeting."^ 
Burnet  mentions  a  feature  of  the  times  felicitous  to 
such  rapid  operations  :  "  It  was  a  mad  roaring  time, 
full  of  extravagance ;  and  no  wonder  it  was  so,  when 
the  men  of  affairs  were  almost  perpetually  drunk." 

The  Act  Rescissory  Avas  immediately  followed  by 
"  an  Act  concerning  religion  and  Church  government." 
After  some  preliminaries  of  pious  thankfulness  for  his 
majesty's  preservation  and  restoration,  there  follow 
assurances  "that  his  majesty  will  be  careful  to  promote 
the  power  of  godliness,  to  encourage  the  exercises  of 
religion,  both  public  and  private,  and  to  suppress  all 
profaneness  and  disorderly  walking."  There  is  no 
legislation  in  the  statute — that  is  for  the  future ;  and 
it  is  announced,  that  "  as  to  the  government  of  the 
Church,  his  majesty  will  make  it  his  care  to  settle  and 
secure  the  same  in  such  a  frame  as  shall  be  most  agree- 
able to  the  Word  of  God,  most  suitable  to  monarchi- 
cal government,  and  most  complying  with  the  public 
peace  and  quiet  of  the  kingdom."  There  was  a  hint 
of  what  was  coming,  in  an  arrangement  "  in  the  mean 
time"  to  "allow  the  present  administration  by  sessions, 
presbyteries,  and  synods,"  "  and  that  notwithstanding 
of  the  preceding  Act  Rescissory  of  all  pretended  Parlia- 
ments since  the  year  1633."^  Thus  the  existing  arrange- 
ments were  a  temporary  expedient,  and  the  basis  on 
which  the  permanent  organisation  was  to  stand  was 
the  system  of  Church  government  existing  in  1633. 

The  plot  is  now  completed.     Sharp  had  announced 

1  Baillie's  Letters,  iii.  686.  «  Act.  Pari,  vii.  88. 


RESTORATION    OF    EPISCOPACY,    1661.  4T9 

the  prospect  of  a  proclamation,  assuring  his  friends 
of  the  preservation  "  of  the  established  worship,  dis- 
cipline, and  government "  of  their  Church.  He  brings 
down  such  a  proclamation.  Suddenly,  as  in  one  of 
the  revolutions  of  a  pantomime,  the  whole  apparatus 
of  the  Presbyterian  polity  is  swept  from  the  stage, 
and  Prelacy  stands  in  its  place  as  the  established  "  dis- 
cipline and  government."  Is  anything  necessary  to 
complete  the  evidence  that  Sharp's  hand  was  in  this 
feat  ■?  If  so,  it  is  at  hand  in  a  letter  to  Middleton, 
in  which  he  takes  credit  as  the  inventor  of  the 
whole.  Describing  an  audience  with  the  king,  he 
says :  "  He  spoke  to  me  of  the  method  to  be  used 
for  bringing  about  our  Church  settlement,  and  bade 
me  give  my  opinion  of  a  present  expedient,  which, 
when  I  had  offered,  he  was  pleased  to  approve ;  so 
did  the  Bishops  of  London  and  Worcester;  and  after 
consultation  with  our  lords,  it  was  agreed  that 
Lauderdale  and  I  should  draw  a  proclamation  from 
the  king,  to  be  sent  to  your  grace,  with  which  I 
trust  you  will  be  satisfied ;  and,  with  submission  to 
your  grace's  opinion,  I  should  think  the  time  for 
our  settling  will  be  more  seasonable  and  proper  after 
that  your  grace  hath  come  hither,  and  so  ordered  the 
way  of  it  as  that  the  perfecting  of  the  work  may 
be  upon  your  hand,  from  whom  it  had  its  beginning, 
and  under  whose  countenance  and  protection  it  must 
thrive  and  take  rooting.  Your  grace  knoweth  the 
work  is  of  great  consequence,  and  will  not  want 
its  difficulties,  which  can  only  be  overcome  by  your 
prudence  and  resolution.  Many  things  are  previous 
to  the  ordering  and  signing  of  it;  and  till  they  be 
moulded,  the  proclamation  will  suffice  to  the  dispos- 


420  CHARLES    II. 

ing  of  minds  to  acquiescence  to  the  king's  pleasure, 
which  your  grace  will  be  able  to  put  into  execution 
with  fewer  inconveniences  than  if  the  king  should 
presently  declare."  ^ 

The  field  was  now  cleared  for  an  "  Act  for  the  resti- 
tution and  re-establishment  of  the  ancient  government 
of  the  Church  by  archbishops  and  bishops."  This  was 
passed  on  the  27th  of  May,  just  two  days  before  the 
anniversary  of  the  Restoration.  An  Act  had  been 
passed  for  keeping  that  day  holy.  Many  were  pre- 
pared to  evade  the  provision,  and  some  to  give  overt 
evidence  of  its  offensiveness.  Besides  the  established 
objection  to  holidays  as  idolatrous,  it  was  held,  by  an 
ingenious  logic,  that  although  the  29th  of  May  hap- 
pened to  be  the  day  of  the  restoration  of  a  worthy 
prince,  it  might  also  happen  to  be  the  anniversary 
of  some  atrocity  or  calamity.  Of  course  the  Act 
coming  so  close  on  its  first  celebi-ation  only  aggra- 
vated the  hostility.  This  in  its  turn  enraged  the 
Court,  and  excited  them  to  a  measure  which  has  some 
interest  as  the  first  of  a  countless  succession  for 
harassing  the  Presbyterian  clergy.  The  offenders 
were  denounced  as  "  such  who  pretend  to  ane  greater 
measure  of  zeal  and  piety,  and  no  less  loyalty,  than 
others,  but  who,  under  that  pretext,  always  have  been 
and  are  incorrigible  enemies  to  the  present  ancient 
and  laudable  government  of  Church  and  State ; "  and 
it  was  decreed  that  they  should  be  incapable  of  hold- 
ing any  benefice  in  the  Church.^ 

The  hierarchy  was  in  existence  before  the  Act  for 

'  Letter  from  original  in  British  Museum  ;  Trans.  Ant.  Soc.  Soot., 
ii.  104. 

^  Act.  Pari.,  vii.  376. 


STRENGTHENING   THE    PREROGATIVE,    1661.      421 

the  restoration  of  Episcopacy  was  passed.  Only  one 
of  the  old  bishops  remained,  and  the  rest  had  to  go  to 
England  for  consecration.  Those  of  them  who  had 
not  been  ordained  episcopally  had  to  accept  a  second 
ordination.  Among  these  Sharp  was  one.  Even  to 
his  brazen  nature  there  seems  to  have  come  a  touch 
of  shame  at  this  solemn  avowal  that  his  sacred  office 
as  a  minister,  and  the  institution  whence  he  drew  it, 
were  both  impostors.  He  reasoned  against  the  double 
ordination,  but  in  vain ;  and  as  he  was  not  the  stuff 
that  martyrs  are  made  of,  he  had  to  accept  of  it.  An- 
other ceremony  of  interest  to  religious  parties  in  Scot- 
land came  off  at  the  same  time — the  Covenant  was 
solemnly  burned  by  the  hands  of  the  common  hangman. 
The  G-overnment  had  meanwhile  taken  measures 
for  strengthening  its  hands ;  and